Dauntless Bootcamp: The Otherside
by Leneah1
Summary: Second book in DAUNTLESS BOOTCAMP series: Now that Dani has finished bootcamp and her and Eric are together, how will she deal with being thrown into this other life. New home, new job, new boyfriend, it's a lot for anyone to handle. Then there is the Lynn issue. What else could life possibly throw at her?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey Everyone! I am back. Sorry it took a whole week but I had to figure out how I wanted this to start back up. I want to let you know I am not going to post everyday because I have started getting a little busier but I will shoot for at least twice a week. Probably Thursdays and Mondays. So without further wait, here is the first chapter. Enjoy!**

This story is rated M/MA for Lemons, language and situations. Not appropriate for younger readers!

Disclaimer: All divergent characters belong to Veronica Roth, all original characters are mine. V.R. characters look like those in the movie. Hope you all enjoy, reviews and thoughts are welcome.

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

 _(Monday, September 21st)_

"You ok?" Eric ask as he walks into the dorm. I sigh heavily as look down at my hands and I feel him sit behind me, but doesn't make any movements to touch me. I feel a little bad for pushing him away a little while ago. I didn't mean to, but I was just too overwhelmed. Saying goodbye to everyone and watching them leave was just painful. I know it is totally illogical but I kind of didn't want our time here to end. Max told me that this often happens with his cadets. That spending so much time with people, living so close together, doing everything together, people tend to grow very close and it is hard to go back to the outside life.

Only I'm not really going back to my old life. I am starting a new one. I am leaving behind everything I know and starting my life over with a new job, new home and new boyfriend. As I watched the bus pull away, I felt the tears began to fall. Eric automatically tried to comfort me by putting his hand on my shoulder, but I had pushed him away telling him to 'let me be' and I retreated to the dorm. I didn't like crying in front of people. Eric has seen me do it several times but the others hadn't and it made me feel weak. I don't like feeling weak, even in front of him. I am suddenly grateful Eric had given me space. I expected him to follow after me but he didn't. He left me alone for a while so I could calm down. My heart warmed at the thought that he has learned that sometimes, being alone is what I truly need.

I look over at my clock and see it has been two hours. I hadn't even realize I was sitting here so long. He is still waiting silently behind me; he can be patient when he wants to be although it is a very rare thing. I take a deep breath and wipe my eyes to make sure there is nothing there before I turn around to face him.

He is biting the inside of his cheek and I see concern all over his face. I know he usually isn't much of the emotional type and I know this is all kind of new to him. Feeling bad for making him worry I figure I should explain myself. "Yeah, I am ok. It was just really hard to be left behind. It has been a long time since Jeff, Patrick and I have been really close and it kind of hurt to watch them go. To be honest, it has been a long time since I had so many good friends and now I probably won't see most of them ever again."

He looks down, his face falling. "Do you regret it?" My eyes pull together not quite understanding what he means. Why would I regret anything? He looks back up at my silence and I am guessing he sees the confusion in my face. "Do you regret staying with me? Do you want to go back? Because I don't want you to feel force into anything. I just want you to be happy." His voice is so quiet my stomach falls. How could he possibly think that is what is going through my head? Insecure Eric is not something he ever shows and I suddenly feel bad for mopping and putting him in this situation.

I grab his face in my hands forcing him to look into my eyes. "I do not regret staying with you. Not for one moment, understand?" But I don't give him time to say anything, I kiss him hard and after a moment I feel his arms around me as he pulls me into his lap. I pull back after a minute in need to finish my thought. "I am just going to miss my friends that is all. Jeff will be back for the next session and I will be able to see him then. And even if he wasn't coming back, I have you and that is all I will ever need." He pulls me back to his chest and I willingly relax in his embrace.

Max suddenly walks in and pauses at the sight of us. "Um, sorry to interrupt." I quickly try sliding off Eric's lap, a little embarrassed that we were caught in such a private moment even though we weren't doing anything, but Eric's grip tighten around my waist. At least I am sitting up straight so I am not longer laying on his chest. "What's up Max?" He ask like this is a completely natural thing, but I can tell he is completely tense under me. He isn't really the PDA type of guy, or maybe he hasn't been until he met me, but we have never really have shown anything in front of Max.

"Well, the cadets are gone but that does not mean your jobs are done." _My job?_ He stops for just a moment seeing the confusion on my face before he continues. "Eric, you have a lot of paperwork to get done and we have lots of work to do around here. Dani, since you are here, I might as well put you to work. I will pay you for this week since you will be spending here, but you are expected to help out. You can start by cleaning the dorms. All the staff helps with clean up in the last week and you will be no different. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served at the same times as they are when we are in session and everyone helps clean up after words. Staff is expected to work from eight in the morning until six at night. I am sure Eric can answer any questions you have and if you need me I am usually in my office."

I give him a nod and he turns to leave but pauses as he opens the door. "Remember, you to are still at technically at work until six tonight, act accordingly." I feel a rumble in Eric's chest and my face heats up a bit at his assumption. "Got it Max. We'll behave." My face turns five shades redder at Eric's words, egging on Max's insinuation. Max chuckles and exits the room and I proceed to slap Eric on the chest. "Seriously. That is embarrassing." I tell him and he is trying to hold in his grin. I can't help but smile at his face, it is so damn adorable.

"There is that smile." He says and I suddenly feel better. "Come, lets get to work." I stand up and turn to look back at him. "So exactly what do I do." I ask but as I look at him I see he has a small smirk on his face as he is looking down at my neck. "Your wearing you necklace." He rubs his thumb over it. "I figured since everyone was gone, it would be ok. It is very beautiful, thank you again" He moves is hand up to my cheek as his eyes move to my mine. "Beautiful necklace for my beautiful lady." He gives me a quick soft kiss and I laugh a little out of pure embarrassment. "You are so damn adorable some times." I tell him and he shakes his head as if he was just under a spell.

"We really should get started before Max comes back in or he will split us up and I have no intentions of being away from you for the rest of the day." He says more seriously. "Lets get this room started and I will show you how. Then before lunch we can go for a run. "Sounds good to me." I say because a run really does sound good.

* * *

By lunch time, I had pulled out all of the cadet clothing from all of the chest from my dorm, striped the bedding, separating it all into bags and took it all over to the laundry room that was in the supply cabin. When I finished taking everything to the laundry, I had pulled Eric away from his paper work which he had brought into the dorm and was doing at my desk, and we went on a hour long run on the trails. It really felt good to just run in silence next to him with nothing but nature around us. It helped relieve some of the tension and apprehension I was still feeling. It was just what I had needed.

Sitting down to eat, the atmosphere was a little lighter without the other cadets here but to me it was a lot quieter. "Hey brat!" Paulo says as he sits down next to me instead of next to Eric. "Hey." He looks at both Eric and my shirt. "Looks like you guys being naughty." I literally spit out my water on my food and everyone looks at me and starts laughing. Eric was trying not to laugh but was failing miserably. "Paulo, don't be a dick." Eric tells him holding in his laugh so I shove both of their shoulders. "Both of you can fuck off."

"Oh, yeah, she is going to fit in here just fine." Christina says still laughing. "Better get use to it Dani, this is what they are normally like and a word of warning, these guys love to play practical jokes on each other." Tris tells me and Eric snorts. "You mean Paulo and Zeke play practical jokes on everyone, we just get them back occasionally." I laugh. I really need to learn not to get so embarrassed by sexual comments because I don't think they are going to stop them anytime soon. "So what do you guys do when you don't have cadets here?"

Paulo's face suddenly gets an evil smirk on it. "Oh don't worry little sis, we have all kinds of fun." I am suddenly a little worried and look over at Eric. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do." He says looking directly at Paulo. "Yeah, but if she wants to prove she is dauntless she does." Uriah speaks up quickly. Eric quickly reaches over the table grabbing him by the shirt. "I said she doesn't have to do anything she doesn't want to do and you will not pressure her you fuckface. You got it?" Uriah throws his hands up in defence and I have to admit, Eric can be a little scary sometimes. "Dude, I was just kidding, chill out." Eric releases him and sits back down and I try not to smile at him being so protective. "Don't worry Eric, I wouldn't do anything I wouldn't want to do." I tell him nudging his arm and he gives me a little wink back. "Good to know asshole Eric is still around." Uriah says quietly but I can see the smirk threatening his lips.

"So do we have plans for tonight?" I ask no one particular. "Yes." Eric answers quickly and quietly. "Really?" Paulo says perking up in his seat. "What are we doing?" Eric glares at him. "You and I aren't doing anything. 'We' as in her and I have plans." I turn to him. "What are we doing?" I am truly curious now. He tilts his head toward me just slightly. "You'll see." He winks at me and I get butterflies in my stomach. "Ah, little sis is going to have some fun tonight."

My face reddens again at his insinuation. "You know Paulo, if I really was you 'little sis', that comment would be totally inappropriate." I try to say it as non-chalant as possible and everyone laughs. "It's inappropriate anyway." Eric growls. "Christ Eric, tell me you aren't going to be like this all fucking week. The cadets are gone, lighten up." Zeke speaks up. I am not sure I could ever picture Eric 'lightening up' to much around other people.

Even when he was playing poker, he really never relaxed. He always seemed a little on edge. Maybe it was because I was there or maybe it was because I was sitting on his lap. Maybe he will relax if we get drunk. I did notice he didn't seem to drink very much while I was around. In fact, the only times I have ever seen him drunk was the one night we spent together in the infirmary and the night he got into the bar fight. I am suddenly curious how Eric normally acts when I am not around.

Eric brings me back out of my thoughts. "I will _lighten up_ when people stop making ridiculous remarks about me and my woman." I try not to smile at his reference to me but it is really cute. "Ok, can everyone back off us because I would really like to see what Eric is like when he lightens up." I say shoving at Eric's arm. He gives me a irritating look and rolls his eyes, but I just laugh at him.

Suddenly Paulo puts his arm around my waist, shaking me side to side lightly. "Don't worry sis, we will get him loose." He says laughing but I have went completely still and my chest starts to tighten. This is such a normal friendly action but I can't help it. I try to breath through it and focus on not reacting like I practiced with Christian. Eric notices almost immediately and smacks Paulo's arm away. "Hands off dickhead. What part of _mine_ don't you understand?" I feel him looking at me but I still can't move yet, I am praying the others haven't noticed. "Thanks for volunteering to clean up." He says to Paulo as he grabs my hand, "Come on, we have stuff to get done." I go willingly knowing I just want to get out of here. "Like hell, I ain't cleaning up after you so you can go fool around with your girl." We start going out the door as Eric yells back at him. "I'll owe you one."

"Stay off my bed." I hear Paulo yell at the closing door. As soon as we get outside he pulls me to the wall and pauses a second. I finally let out a breath I wasn't aware I was holding. "You ok?" He ask cautiously rubbing his hand along my cheek. I take a few deep breaths and nod my head. "You sure?" I don't think he believes me. My face must be showing it more than I thought. _Dammit_.

I feel his hands go to my hips and his thumbs find there way just under my shirt where he rubs gently. The contact makes me feel better almost instantly and I take one more heavy breath. "It just took me by surprise, that's all. I have been a little too emotional today and overreacted." I look up into his eyes and smile before planting a light kiss on his lips. "I am ok, I promise. I won't be breaking his nose today." A smirk grows on his face and he relaxes. "Oh, so you got jokes now huh?" I look down a little trying to hide my smirk. "So what are we doing tonight?" He huffs at me. "You'll see tonight. Come on, lets go hit the bags for a bit." He releases me and turns walking toward the gym. I am irritated I'm still in the dark about tonight but punching something sounds like a good idea to me after just being so tense, so quickly go catch up with him. I have noticed, any type of exercise is his out as well for emotional situations. Something else we have in common.

* * *

"You ready?" Eric ask as he comes into the dorm. I finish my braid and tie it off. "Yep." He looks extremely hot in some kind of dark designer jeans, a tight black tee shirt and sneakers. "Where are we going?" I ask and he gives me a quick kiss on the cheek. "You look beautiful." My eyes pull together. I am wearing a track pants and a fitted tee shirt, wet hair and no make up. "Well I am not really dressed up or anything." I tell him laughing. "Babe you would look beautiful in anything. Although I think I would prefer you in nothing but then we would never make it out of this room." My face reddens and I push him back slightly. "This weekend we can go to the outlet strip mall in North Bend and get you some normal clothes on our way back to Seattle." I nod at him. Max said he would have a pay check for me on Friday, so that will work.

"You still haven't answered my question." I say realizing he has side tracked me. "I told you it is a surprise. Here, Max wanted me to give this too you. He came in while you were in the shower." He hands me a cell phone. I look at it and notice it is a Galaxy Note 5, _wow_. "This is your company phone. It already has all the staff pre-entered and Will installed the tracking app we use for the cadets. You are suppose to keep it on you at all times while we are at camp, but we can use them as our personal phones too. They have unlimited talk and text." I guess Max likes top of the line.

"Thanks." I slip the phone into my pocket. "How can Max afford all this stuff? I mean, you guys have tablets, phones, trackers, all the supplies, company cars, it is a lot of stuff." I don't want to pry but it seems like a lot considering all the cadets that come here are coming from state facilities. "He gets funding from several places. The state's funding is crap but there is also a lot of private funding from foundations that would rather see youth receive help instead of just throwing them in jail. As long as Max keeps up his impressive success rate, he will keep getting the funding. It has been so successful, other are starting to take notice. Now they are talking about opening more of these camps, like over in Chicago. That is why you guys came here. Several private investors from Chicago are looking to do the same thing there if they can get the states approval." I guess that makes a lot of sense.

"Grab your sweater, lets go." I raise an eyebrow but don't bother asking again where we are going, I just grab my sweater and he leads me back into his dorm which is empty. "Where is everyone?" I ask curiously. "They are all in the mess haul playing poker. Now that the cadets are gone we don't have to hide out in our cabins." He grabs his sweater off the bed and a black back pack and we head out the door.

I am surprised when we stop in the office and he grabs a set of keys. As we go out front, he opens the passenger door to the camp's Ford Expedition that we used to go to lunch. "Won't Max get mad we are using the camp's vehicles?" I slip in my seat and Eric shakes his head no before closing my door and walking around to get in the driver seat. "He prefers we use them while we are here. Besides, all of our cars are in the camp's garage about a half a mile from here so this is more convenient anyways."

We head toward town but right as we get into town he turns off to some side road and we keep driving. We pass houses and then it gets more scarce with only trees and land as we seem to be going up the ridge. After a while his hand moves to rest on my thigh and he seems to relax as we listen to Linkin Park while we drive. The road turns into a dirt road and gets much more bumpy as we continue further off the main roads.

Finally he slows and pulls into a little parking area that has a cliff in front of it that over looks the whole town. The sun is setting and it is really pretty up here. I look over to him and he has a bit of a smirk on his face. "I thought maybe we could just have a quiet evening together." I smile at him and he grabs his bag from behind him. Leaving the music on he gets out of the car so I follow and go around to his side. He takes out a blanket from his bag and throws it across the top of the car. I eye him confused to why he is doing that. "Come on, we are going up there." He opens his door again and rolls the window down before putting his back back over his shoulder. He uses the seat and window jam to climb up on top of the car before turning to help me up. I follow him up grabbing his hand for help although I really didn't need it.

From up top, even though we are only a few more feet up, it feels much higher. Maybe it is because we are parked on the edge of a cliff. It also feels so much more open, almost like it did when we sat on the edge of the lookout. We have been through a lot since then. Even though it has only been a few months, it feels like it has been years. I bite my lip. The Lookout is where I lost my virginity to him. I am still not sure what I did to deserve him. He is amazing handsome, smart, sweet and a god in bed. Well our experiences in an actual bed has been pretty limited but it is just a saying. He has been amazing in all the places we have been. "What are you thinking about?" he ask looking curiously at me. I am suddenly embarrassed where my thoughts have lead. "Tell me, you don't want my mind running rampant." He leans into me a bit trying to coax my thoughts out of me. I look down at my hands that are playing with the edge of my shirt. "I was thinking of our hike to the Lookout." I say quietly, that is where my thoughts started anyway. I am not sure why I feel so embarrassed

He hums and pulls my chin up so I look at him. "That was a very memorable night. Without a doubt one of the best of my life." He places a light kiss on my lips and I flush not just of embarrassment but at the thought he enjoyed it that much. "So why do you look so embarrassed at your thoughts of that night?" Damn, sometimes I hate that he can read me so easily. "I don't know, I have just been closed off for so long that I never really became comfortable with things like that." His eyebrow goes up. "Things like that?"

"Yeah, you know, intimate things." He chuckles, "I have noticed that. You tend to blush a lot when people insinuate those things. Really thought, you shouldn't. It is human nature and trust me, with you there is nothing to be embarrassed about." I blush again, I can't help it. He gives me another quick kiss but on the cheek and grabs his bag. "Here, this will help you relax." He hands me a Corona and opens one for himself, and I figure we need to lighten the mood a little. "You trying to get me to drunk, because if you wanted to get into my pants, you only have to ask." He almost chokes on his beer and then smiles at me, well that definitely lightened up the mood. "Is that so? I will have to keep that is mind." He suddenly shifts his voice and he leans in close to my neck. "Though I don't think I need alcohol to convince you to let me in you pants." His seductive voice hits me between my legs and I squirm a bit making him laugh again and sit back. "Besides, I can only have a few since I have to drive back." His face gets a little more serious. "I was thinking this morning. We kind of fell into this relationship quickly, and circumstances has pushed it even quicker than a normal relationship. We really haven't had a chance to get to know each other, other than physically that is, and as much as I would love to explore you even more physically, I figured we could talk instead. Maybe it will help you feel better and up here we are less likely to get interrupted by a bunch of buffoons."

I smile sweetly at his gesture. "So what do you want to talk about?" We talked a lot when I was recovering from being stabbed but it was mostly my hopes and dreams or times when we had gotten in trouble in the past. We never really got in depth and every time when I tried to get him to talk about his family he would change the subject. He shrugs his shoulders. "Tell me about your family, I mean, I know about your brother but what about your sisters."

We sit and talk about all kinds of things. Well, I mostly talk but he tells me about the condo where he lives and different things there are to do in Seattle. He admits, he really hasn't been to 'downtown' in a long time other than the few times he went drinking with his buddies. He still refused to talk about his family and kept bring our conversation back to my life.

After a few hours while we were talking about my dream of going to London, a big grin works its way across his face. I stop talking at the change in his facial expression. "What?" I ask cautiously and his smile gets even bigger. "Look up." He tells me tapping the underside of my chin, so I do curious to what is going on. When I do I see the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Streaks of green, purple and pink dances its way through the sky in waves. The sight leaves me speechless, it is the craziest thing I have ever seen. I have heard of the northern lights but living so close to the city, you never see them. I am not sure how I didn't notice it before when we were talking other than I was more focused on him. "Have you ever seen it before?" He ask me after a minute and I just shake my head no. "I heard we should be able to see it tonight. It usually happens a few times a year up here but not always this bright." I can't take my eyes off of the sky, it is so extraordinary. "It is absolutely beautiful." He pulls me back so we are laying down with my head on his arm that is wrapped around my shoulder.

We lay there and watch the sky as we listen to the music coming form the car. As he rubs is fingers up and down my side and I wonder how in the world this man has given me so many memorable moments in just a few short months. I may be young still but I know these memories will last a life time.

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 **Alright, so what did you think? Good start? Please let me know and I should have another chapter up for you in a few days! Also, I realized, looking back at the previous book, that there are quite a few mistakes. Just wanted to apologize for that I do not a beta or even Microsoft Word with all of it's tools. I will try to keep the mistakes to a minimum in the future.**

 **Tumblr account is up and running: leneah1. tumblr. com**

 **Until next time!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you guys so much for all the reviews and comments! They really keep me going with this story and I am so grateful. Here is another chapter for you. Enjoy!**

 **This chapter is rated MA. You have been warned!**

This story is rated M/MA for Lemons, language and situations. Not appropriate for younger readers!

Disclaimer: All divergent characters belong to Veronica Roth, all original characters are mine. V.R. characters look like those in the movie. Hope you all enjoy, reviews and thoughts are welcome.

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

 _(Wednesday, September 23rd)_

"Time to get up princess." Eric says softly into my ear and he nuzzles my neck. I am so warm and comfortable with him wrapped around me, I really do not want to get up. I just snuggle into him. "Come on it is almost six, I let you sleep as long as I could." I tighten my hold on him even tighter. "Tell me again why you all get up so early when there are no cadets here?" I feel his chuckle in his chest, and he starts to kiss my neck and I hum and the feeling. "Well I could think of something else we could do." He pushes himself against me and I feel his hardness. "You know, waking up with you in my bed has it advantages."

"You two better not! If you want to do that, take it into her dorm" I hear Zeke say and I laugh. All of the guys have been teasing us since Monday so I am slowly learning to just laugh it off. I haven't spent a night in my bed since everyone left. We have been sleeping in Eric's bed because it is more comfortable and it is bigger. We both barely fit on my bed.

The only time we even spent together in my dorm was Monday night when we got back from our little trip. The minute we got into my dorm Eric was all over me. I have a feeling he had to really work not do it before we got there since he had been eyeing me with those lustful eyes all night. At first I had stopped him because of the cameras but he assured me that the inside cameras are not on while cadets are not here. They only keep the outside ones on for security reasons. He must have figured we were going to end up there because he also explained no one would come in since he had warned them.

That night had been so amazing. Not only had we had the most wonderful date talking and watching the northern lights, but when we came back, it felt so much more intimate. We had all night. For the first time, we were not constricted by time; we were free to take things slow and explore each other fully. Eric had taken his time to make sure I was completely satisfied. I can still feel his warm lips all over my body and I still have several marks that he had left behind. After several uninterrupted hours, we were exhausted, so I threw on my shorts and cami and we migrated to his bed.

I felt a little weird at first sleeping in a bed with Eric with a bunch of guys in the room but the feeling went away quickly once I was snuggled in bed with Eric. Morning had brought a bunch of comments and innuendos from Paulo, Zeke, and Uriah, but I just tried to ignore them. I was a little surprised to see that Uriah was sleeping in Four's bed, but Eric explained that Four was with Tris in her cabin and Christina had joined Will in his cabin, leaving Uriah out in the cold. I had to laugh at that but secretly wish we had a room to ourselves.

I feel Eric get out of bed and he throws my shorts at my head. "Get up, time to work out. You too you lazy asses." Eric speaks up to the guys. I slide my shorts on under the covers. We didn't do anything last night but he had asked me to sleep in just my underwear and cami so I did. I get out of bed to go change quickly. Even when the cadets aren't here everyone still does morning and evening P.T., but all of the staff participates, and instead of one of the instructors leading it, Max leads it. Eric told me it was to keep us working together as a unit. He also said it reminds most of us that we were once cadets and that hard work got us here. I actually really like it anyways so I don't mind much.

I smile as we all gather out at the stage, it is kind funny to see all the staff lined up like they are cadets. Max jumps up on the stage. "Hey guys, while I have you all here together I wanted to make an announcement. Tori and I will be leaving this evening to go to Seattle. We have an early morning meeting tomorrow to attend so we will be going tonight and we should get back tomorrow afternoon. As always, no non-staff allowed on the premises and I expect you all to behave. Zeke this means you. I do not want to come back to dumbass practical jokes. Got it?" Everyone laughs and I have a feeling there are several stories behind that comment. "Come on Max, you have to admit some of those were funny as hell." Zeke defends himself. Eric shakes his head when I look at him confused. I assume he will tell me another time.

"I am serious Zeke, this is you last warning or you will be finding yourself on the worst duties I can think up." Zeke rolls his eyes but doesn't say anything further. "I know it isn't fair to ask but I would also prefer if you all stayed in camp tonight, if something happens, I will not be around to deal with it so I would like to avoid it all together." Max looks at Eric. "Alright, now that I have that out of the way. Today I would like to finish clean up so we can start inventory tomorrow. Dani, now that you are done cleaning out both dorms, I would like you to help out Chris and Tris with laundry and meals today since Tori needs Marlene's help today. Guys, you are all on grounds clean up and instructors, your paperwork is due in my office by the end of the day. Everyone understand." We all nod our heads and seemingly satisfied Max begin's leading our morning workout.

* * *

"So what are we doing tonight?" Paulo ask as we eat lunch. "I say we play poker and someone needs to make a alcohol run. I already called Shauna, Lauren." Chris say quickly. "Chris, you heard Max." Eric says glumly and Chris raises her eyebrow. "Eric stop being so uptight. Lauren is technically staff and Shauna is ex-staff. Besides, I don't want to listen to the Bevis and Butthead complain that their girls are not here. Now who will go on the alcohol run?"

"I'll go." Paulo offers. "Max asked me to go pick up the mail today anyway." She smiles big. "Good, we need rum, vodka and soda." She tells him and he laughs, "I don't want that shit, I want some whiskey and who is paying for our little get together? I just sent money back home to my mom so I am broke." Everyone looks around and finally Eric grabs is wallet out of his back pocket pulling out his credit card. "Don't go crazy." He tosses it on the table in front of Paulo. "And since I am buying, the beer of choice tonight will be Corona."

Eric turns to me. "What do you like to drink?" At least he doesn't have a problem with me drinking. "I am fine with rum and coke." He looks at me and I see something like amusement cross his face. "Paulo, since you are getting whiskey, might as well get everything for our special." Paulo face grows into a big grin. "And what is your special?" I questions. Paulo laughs, "Don't worry sis, lets just say it will _suit_ you just fine." Him and Eric laugh and I decide to drop it because I am not sure I want to know. "It sucks I can't drink." Tris whines and Four looks down at her stomach, putting his hand on her stomach, then gives her a kiss on her cheek. They are so freaking cute some times. "Don't worry Tris, I will make you my special Dauntless cake." Christina tells her and that seems to cheer Tris up.

"Won't Max get mad that we are all drinking? I mean, several of us are underage." Zeke looks at me like I am crazy. "He is our boss not our Father and we are all adults. As long as he doesn't see you guys drinking he doesn't care. He actually told me once he rather everyone drink here where he knows we are safe instead of going out to one of the parties in the woods the locals kids have. Especially after that kid died last year when he walked away from the party and fell asleep in the snow." I guess I understand that. "Besides, it is normal for us to celebrate birthdays. Will's was last Sunday and Uriah's is coming up on the 27th so I am sure Max is expecting us too anyway. Not to mention, he always says, 'what he doesn't know, won't hurt him', so I think we are good."

"Oh, and Dani, you will be joining the girls to get ready." Chris chimes in and my eyebrows pull together. "Don't look at me like that." I see several of the guys holding in their laughs and Tris sighs. "Trust me girl, there is no arguing with her, just go with it." Tris tells me. I look over to Eric and he just gives me a 'don't look at me' smirk. _Great!_

* * *

 _Oh My Gosh!_ Chris is ridiculous wanting to do my hair and make up like I am a damn doll. After two hours, Marlene and Chris has all of us girls hair and make-up all done. Marlene brought me a cute pair of skinny jeans and a really cute tight blue blouse with a low back that goes beautifully with my necklace. I am a bit nervous wearing the top because it is not my normal style and it is meant to be worn without a bra. For the first time, I am happy I'm able to go braless.

Chris finally lets me stand to look at myself in a full length mirror and I am shocked. My make-up is not heavy, very natural and my hair is in large loose curls that fall down my back and around my breast. I actually look like a woman instead of my normal tom-boyish looking self. "Wow, thank you guys, I look great." I turn and smile. "You have a lot of natural beauty Dani, it really didn't take much." Chris tells me with a smile. "Let's go, the guys are probably wondering were we are." I smile and we all get up to go to the mess haul.

When I walk in I am shocked yet again at the little set up. The normal tables are pushed up against the back wall. There is a table set up at the front of the haul with a bunch of alcohol and another table of snack foods. Will is setting up a stereo that is already playing loud music and the lights seem to be darkened a bit. It feel more like a night club then our mess haul. All the other guys are already sitting at one of the two round tables playing poker and drinking.

It takes Eric about two seconds to register we came in and he looks up. His eyes lock on mine and I am suddenly nervous for some reason. He looks down my body and back up again before returning his gaze to my eyes. The grin that appears on his face makes me feel better since it is obviously he likes what he sees. Paulo nudges his arm trying to bring his attention back to the game, but when Eric doesn't answer right away, Paulo follows his eyes. A smile spreads across his face and he says something quietly to Eric. I figure it is something completely inappropriate because Eric hits him hard in the arm before folding his hand and waving me over to sit by him.

I go over and give him a quick kiss on the cheek before sitting down next to him. He slides his arm around my waist and then freezes for just a moment. He leans back looking at the back of my shirt and I hear a low groan escape him. He licks his lip and begins moving his thumb up and then down my bare back as he leans in next to my ear. "Damn babe, you look amazing. Paulo is right, we may not make it out of this hall." I feel the red creep up my face. He kisses my neck before pulling back and to place a hot passionate kiss on my lips.

"Eric, you playing this hand?" Four ask causing Eric to break our kiss and when I look at Four he looks a little uncomfortable with Eric's display of affection. Several of the others have also stopped and are staring at us. "Yeah," Eric tells him still looking at me, so much promise in his eyes. "Paulo, I think we need a couple specials for the women." Eric gets a little smirk on his face and then picks up the cards that were dealt to him. "So what are you guys playing?" I ask trying to find a distraction from the ache between my legs that Eric has caused.

"Just normal five card poker right now, but we like to play all kinds so we will switch it up. Plus once the other girls get here, we will split up into two tables." Four tells me, and I watch as they bid around twice before laying out their cards. Zeke wins it with a full house.

"Here you go little sis." Paul sets a drink down in front of me. I look to Eric and he nods for me to drink, so I take a sip of it. It is pretty sweet but really good. "So what am I drinking?" I ask Eric and he smiles at me. "Well _princess_ , this is called a 'Royal Fuck'. Enjoy!" He has the cutest grin on his face and I can't help but smile back at him. "Well then I guess it is fitting that my _prince charming_ is drinking one as well. So what's in it?"

"It's Crown Royal, Peach Schnapps and pineapple juice. The sweetness allows you to drink it pretty quick so be careful, Paulo always make them strong. Don't drink more than two. I don't want you passing out on me tonight." He kisses me again along my jaw. _Urrgg_ , his demanding voice hits me right between my legs yet again bringing back the ache and I squirm in my chair. I hear the door open and I look over to see Lauren and Shauna walk in.

"Good, now the party can really start." Uriah say loudly and something tells me he has already had a few drinks. He jumps up and grabs Lauren's hand before kissing her. Shauna goes over and sits down in Zeke's lap before saying hi to everyone.

We split up into two tables, Eric, me, Paulo, Marlene, Uriah and Lauren at one table and Four, Tris, Zeke, Shauna, Will and Chris at the other. They didn't even discuss who would go where so I am guessing it is their normal. When I go to sit down, Eric slyly sets two rolls of quarters in my lap. I give him a questioning look and he leans over to my ear. "This is a date and I am paying!" He is so fucking cute, but it is a good thing because I really didn't have any money to play with tonight. I had worried about that, but I am grateful he was so discrete about it.

We all decide to pay Texas Hold'em for a while. I am actually pretty good at this game and I start winning quite a bit. Everyone is relax, joking, just having fun. As we play Eric keeps his arm on the back of my chair and continuously runs his thumb over my bare back, which is slowly driving me crazy.

"I got an idea." Uriah speaks up after a while. "Why don't we play strip poker?" Eric gives a quick humph. "Not happening kid." Uriah looks disappointed. "I got a better idea." Zeke throws out excitedly from the table behind us. "Let's play 'Winner Picks'. We got to break in Dani." I am not sure what the hell they are talking about.

"Um, first Dani doesn't need to be broke in." I tell him, but before I can continue Paulo interrupts. "Yeah because we all know Eric has already done that." Several the guys laugh as my face heats up. "Paulo man, don't be an ass." Eric says but I can tell he is trying to hold in his smile and he whispers in my ear. "But I sure wouldn't mind doing it again." I smack him on his thigh. He closes his eyes and groans. I take it he actually enjoyed that. "Moving on, secondly, I have no idea what that game is."

"It's simple. The person that wins the hand, gets pick someone to take a shot. We keep playing until someone gives up. It just adds a layer of fun." Zeke explains. That isn't so bad. "Ok, I am up for that." Everyone agrees and we start playing again but I can't help wonder what that little smirk on Eric's face is for, but I soon find out. Each time Eric or Paulo wins, I end up taking a shot, almost like they planned it. After the eighth shot, i cannot take anymore. "That is it, that is my last shot." I tell everyone and Eric, Paulo and Zeke all laugh. Every time I won I would make one of them drink but it was clear that they were ganging up on me. My head is spinning and I do not want to black out tonight.

"Fine if she done then it is time to play truth or dare." Uriah says. "Come on Uriah, we are too old to play that." Eric tells him. "What ever dickhead, let's go." Zeke tells him. He rolls his eyes but stands up and takes my hand and as soon as I stand, the room spins. I am grateful that Eric puts his hands on me to steady me. "Jump on princess." He tells me with a grin knowing I am completely plastered. I laugh as I jump on his back and we head outside. Paulo brings out a case of Corona and passes them around as we all sit down in a circle on the grass. Eric pulls me down so I am sitting between his legs. I am about to object but I notice Zeke and Shauna do the same so I figure why not.

"I am starting." Uriah says as soon as we are all settled. "Eric, Truth or Dare?"

"Truth." He says without missing a beat. "You pansycake!" Eric shakes his head. "Your dares are always rediculous now what is your question?" Uriah takes a second. "When is the first time you dreamed about Dani?" I freeze. "Who said I had dreams about her?" He seems a bit irritated. Uriah quickly looks to Paulo before his eyes drop down and I feel Eric reach over and punch Paulo in the arm. "Sorry dude, it slipped." Paulo says rubbing his arm. "Come on, answer Eric." Uriah whines. Eric huffs as he pushes me forward a little and I feel him remove his shirt. I look back at him confused. "Really?" Uriah says, but I see Eric is not happy and I wonder if he didn't want me knowing that and now I am really curious to know the answer. He shakes his head and pulls me back against his bare chest and it feels so warm against my back. Eric quickly moves on. "Lauren?"

"Ahh shit." I hear Uriah mumble. "Definitely Dare." Uriah face falls and I know this can't be good. "Lauren, I dare you to kiss Zeke." I feel him laugh. "Eric!" Zeke says as he looks at Shauna. "Dude it is just a game, don't be a fucking pussy." Eric tells him, but Shauna doesn't seemed to bothered by it. If I am not mistaken she is amused. Maybe because she doesn't think Lauren will actually do it. "Sorry Uri but this is your fault." She says as she goes over to Zeke and kisses him. Zeke stays completely still and Shauna laughs. "Damn, girl I didn't think you had it in you!" Shauna tells her. "But that was your one and only pass. Don't ever do that again." I see Zeke let out a huge breath of relief.

"Tris?" Lauren ask. "Truth." Lauren thinks for a minute. "Craziest place you have ever had sex." I hear Eric laugh and Tris looks completely embarrassed. "Um, in a bed." Everyone snickers. "Man Four, you really need to give your woman some variety." Paulo bellows and it starts another round of laughter. _Poor Tris._

"Zeke?" Tris quietly ask, her face deep red. "Dare!" He is way too enthusiastic. Chris quickly leans over and whispers in her ear. "Hey, no helping Chris." Zeke protest. "Zeke I dare you to run a lap nude." Tris says her face turning red again. Zeke jumps up, "Chris, you are ruthless. Shauna, you got your camera?" He laughs stripping down to his boxers quickly before running away from us and then stripping off his boxers so we see his bare ass. We are all laughing and then I feel Eric's hand over my eyes. "Princess I think you are too young to watch this." and I try pulling his hands away playfully as we both laugh our asses off. His lips find mine as I hear Zeke running back to where he left his boxers. As we break apart I notice everyone staring at us. "What the fuck, you guys never seen two people kiss." Eric ask irritably as he sees what I see. "Eric man, I don't think I have ever seen you be playful. Like ever!" Paulo says. "Fuck off man. Zeke, your turn." Eric says coldly, his mood doing a complete one eighty.

"Yeah ok, Chris, true or dare?" She smiles at him. "I'm dauntless, Dare." Zeke's eyes roam around the circle and land on me and Eric. "Chris, I dare you to kiss Dani. Not that pansy shit Lauren did,. Like really kiss her, open mouth and everything." My mouth falls open. "Seriously Zeke, what did I ever do to you?" My voice way too high. Chris comes over and kneels in front of me. "Come on Dani, aren't you Dauntless?" Zeke smirks at me but I just look back to Eric. Both of his eyebrows are raised and he puts up his hands in a defensive position as he smirks at me. "It's up to you babe." I take a deep breath and thankfully the alcohol is making me braver than normal.

"Fine Chris just do it." In a second, her mouth is on mine and I feel Eric's hands move to my upper thigh were he grabs tightly. Feeling his hands on me, so close to my center makes me fucking want him causing me to kiss her back. Chris hand goes up to my cheek as she opens her mouth and I allow her to continue as I feel Eric pull me tighter into him. All I can think about is his hands on me right now and how much I want him as I feel him grow hard against me. Christina finally breaks our kiss and turns to Zeke. "Good enough for you?" She ask and he swallows as I see the other guys mouths all hanging open with the exception of Four who is looking down at the ground. I take a long drink of my Corona and I feel Eric's lips on my shoulders.

" _Wow_ , I missed that, can you do it again?" Uriah says all breathy and Lauren slaps his arm. "I don't know, judging by the look on Eric's face, I think he might bust a nut if he see's that again." Paulo says as he breaks out laughing. My face heats ups and Eric leans down next to my ear. "Sorry babe, I can't lie. That was fucking hot." _Typical male._ "Well I hope you enjoyed it because it is never happening again." I say quietly to him but I can't help the smile on my face.

"Alright Dani, truth or dare?" Chris ask me. "Um, yeah, I think I will take truth on this one."

"What the most orgasms you had during sex?" My face turns beat red immediately and my hands fly up to cover my face. I feel Eric's hands tighten around my waist again. I don't think I can say it. I am not to keen on taking about these things. "Say it because you are not taking off a piece of clothing." Eric says and his voice sounds somewhere between lust filled and demanding. I hear a few of the other say 'come on'. I really shouldn't be so embarrassed. "Four times." Eric says from behind me. "Eric." I chastise him immediately and he just tilts his head to the side as he shrugs and takes a drink of his beer. "What? It's the truth."

"And how exactly do you know that." Shauna says a little in disbelief. Eric raises his eyebrow like it is obvious. "Because I felt all of them," He says proudly. It still astounds me that he is so blunt. "Hello, I am sure she has had past boyfriends, you don't know if someone may have been able to please her better." She tells him and I see him glare at her. Eric was my first but that really isn't any of her business, but as I look at Shauna I see the realization on spread across her face. "Man don't tell me you took her virginity." I have had enough of this conversation. "Shauna, enough about my fucking sex life." I say before thinking and then realize I pretty much just answers her assumption.

I don't think I have ever been so embarrassed and I am actually getting irritated. "You never actually gave your answer." Chris says to me. _For christ sake_. "You really want to know that bad. Yes, Monday night we came back here, Eric fucked the shit out of me and after four mind shattering orgasms, I was exhausted and we went to bed. And for the record he has been the only one I have ever been with so yes, he knows every orgasm I have ever had! Happy now!" Again, my mouth has went off running before I can stop it. I down the rest of my beer pissed at my uncontrollable mouth.

Everyone is quiet for a minute. "Well damn Eric, you got yourself a feisty one here." Paulo says and I sigh and shake my head. "Fuck off Paulo." I tell him but he just laughs at me. I still cannot believe I said all that shit. "Ignore them, they are just jealous." Eric says into my ear as he kisses my neck calming me and replacing it with my sexual need for him. I run my fingers up the inside of his thigh and I hear him groan behind me. Within a second he gets to his feet pulling me up with him. "I think we have had enough for tonight. We are going to bed." He tells everyone and I hear a bunch of them scoff and mumble comments that I don't care to hear. Eric puts his arm around me, still shirtless and we start walking toward the dorm. "Paulo, you can take my turn." I yell back and Eric chuckles.

As soon as we get into my dorm, Eric locks the door and pushes me back up against the wall next to it. His lips are on mine before I can say a word. His lips feel so amazing after him working me up so much tonight and I can't help the moan that escapes me. He has been driving me crazy all night and with all the alcohol in me, it is just pushing my need for him even higher. He pulls my shirt off as he begins to work his way kissing and biting down past my neck, then slows to appreciate each of my breast, before moving down to my stomach.

He has my pants unbuttoned before his lips reach the top of my jeans and he peels off my pants and shoes. Quickly he throws them to the side before lifting my leg over his shoulder. I look down at him excited for what is about to happen, and he grins at me before he licks my folds causing me to moan loudly. I squeeze my eyes shut, leaning my head back against the wall as he begins to lick and suck my bundle of nerves. My hands find his hair and I pull his hair hard at his overwhelming ministrations. He hums loudly against me sending shivers up my body. His fingers quickly find their way in me and my legs become extremely weak from the pure ecstasy I am feeling. His expert tongue makes quick work of me and with all the pent up frustration and irritation, I quickly explode around his fingers as I mumble some form of his name.

He kisses back up my body as he quickly undoes his pants and frees himself. He grabs me by the back of my thighs and I instinctively wrap my legs around him when he lifts me up. Within seconds he enters me fully before he stills, allowing me to adjust to his large size. I feel so wonderfully complete with him in me. "I have been dying to be inside you all night." He whispers to me as he kisses my neck and then he begins moving, slowly at first then picking up the pace. "You are so fucking beautiful." He whispers to me as he bites my ear. "Knowing you weren't wearing a bra under that shirt was almost enough to make me cum in my pants." He starts pounding into me harder and I hold on tightly to his neck absorbing the almost painful but incredibly pleasurable feeling.

"And the back of that shirt, ahhh, showing your beautiful back. I just wanted to take you right there." His words cause the feeling deep down in me to build again. I feel his fingers dig into my sides and I am so fucking high on him right now. My head is swimming with his touch, his words and the alcohol. "Then you kissed Chris." He slams into me harder and I can't help but let out a loud moan of pleasure.

"And then admitted that you are mine...only mine...and every sweet, pleasurable, amazing orgasm belong to me." His rougher side showing itself as he picks up the pace even more. The feeling built up in me is so overwhelming, threatening to tear me apart. "You...are...all...mine!" He says through gritted teeth, slamming into me between each word and it sends me over the edge as I scream his name. "That's right baby, all mine." He says proudly and with a few more thrust, he groans my name into my neck as he spills into me with unbelievable force.

He makes no move to let me down and after a few seconds of trying to catch his breath, he walks backward until he legs hits the bed. He lays back on it bringing me down with him so I am laying on his chest with him still inside of me. I am spent and don't even try to move. Once our breaths finally even out, I feel his chest rumble with laughter. I look up to him curious to what could possibly be so funny. His smile reaches from ear to ear. "I think you can now say you have been royally fucked."

* * *

 **I figured the staff needed to have a little fun now that the cadets are gone. So let me know what you guys thought. I love to hear it all, the good, bad and funny! Per your request, I have also started a tumblr account to show you guys some pictures that go along with the chapters and some little extras. Check it out, just search for leneah1 or goto leneah1. tumblr. com!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry it took so long to get this up. I have five kids and my younger son had a birthday a few days ago and then we have been getting ready for Halloween. Hopefully I will have another one up in a few days! For now, Enjoy!**

This story is rated M/MA for Lemons, language and situations. Not appropriate for younger readers!

Disclaimer: All divergent characters belong to Veronica Roth, all original characters are mine. V.R. characters look like those in the movie. Hope you all enjoy, reviews and thoughts are welcome.

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

 _(Saturday, September 26th)_

"Son of a bitch!" I shout. Now I know just how much I fucking hate Zeke. Eric and I have just fallen victim to Zeke's notorious pranks. "Zeke you fucking dick!" I yell at him as I crawl back on the bed trying to avoid the traps on the floor. "Wow Dani, aren't you looking hot! Nice panties." He says and in a instant Eric is gets up off the edge of the bed to likely beat the shit out of him. Zeke is out the door before Eric gets two steps and I hear another trap go off and Eric swearing.

I look around and half the room is covered in small mouse traps. Paulo and Uriah are sitting on the beds doubled over laughing because Eric and I were just woken up with a blow horn and as we jumped off the bed, our feet were attacked by a hundred small mouse traps. "You two better shut the fuck up before I come over there and knock your teeth down your throat." Eric says beyond pissed and the laughing quiets down but doesn't stop. He comes back over to the bed pulling my feet out from under the blanket I threw over my bottom half. He looks down to look at my feet, running his finger over them lightly.

He is so gentle as he pick each foot making sure I am ok. They are red and my pinky toe hurts but I think I will be fine. "You ok?" He ask me still irritated. "I'm fine, lets just go back to bed." The clock shows it is only three thirty in the morning. I groan and scoot back toward the wall so Eric can lay on the outside of the bed. "When I fucking wake up, all those traps better be gone or I swear you are going to pay for it and tell Zeke he better be gone before I wake up!" He slides in next to me. "Does he always do this shit?" I ask, but I already know the answer

"Yeah, usually he doesn't do it to me but I have a feeling, with you around, this isn't the last time." He sighs and kisses me on my temple. "Lets get some sleep. Today is going to be a long day." I pulls me into his chest and I wrap myself back around him.

* * *

"Hmm mm." I wake up to hot lips kissing my neck." My hands find their way up into his hair and I move my head to the side a little to give him better access. As he moves to my collar bone, he bites lightly and I let out a quiet moan as I pull on his hair. I feel the groan in his chest.

"Ok, we can hear you!" I hear Uriah say. "Then plug your ears." I say lightly still impassioned by his lips and Eric stops and laughs. I groan at the loss of his warmth against my neck. "As much as I would love to be buried in you right now, I am not keen on others seeing my woman while she is having a mind blowing orgasm." Now it is my turn to laugh. "Confident much are we?"

"Always princess." He smiles, then rolls his head back as lets out a sigh. He returns his lips near my ear. "I cannot wait until we are home in our bed where I can satisfy my morning hunger for you." He says and it is so promising. He pushes himself against me and I feel him hard against my thigh, but what really held my mind was him saying 'home in our bed'. Today I will get so see my new home, his home and it stills feel a little surreal that I am really moving in with him already.

"Lets get up and get stuff ready to go. We all go to The Cottage for breakfast before we head out to our sperate ways." Eric tells me as I slide on the shorts he handed me. I notice all the traps are gone and I don't see Zeke, I wonder if he really left already.

* * *

I smile up at Eric who is watching the road intently. He has a bit of a shadow because he hasn't shaved in a few days, but to be honest, he looks extremely hot like that. He keeps on hand on the wheel and the other holding my hand. I swear all morning he has been touching me in one way or another.

Breakfast at The Cottage was delicious. Eric and I both had bacon, eggs, hasbrowns and toast. I was a bit surprised when he just told the waitress he would have the same as me. I know his favorite is the chicken fried steak but maybe it was just to early for that.

I was also surprised to learn that many people from camp actually live down near Eric. As it turns out, Paulo stays with his brother when not up at camp and it is only a few miles from Eric's condo. I guess, Four, Zeke and Uriah, all share an rental house in the next town over. Eric told me that he doesn't hang out with anyone other than Paulo and recently Marlene, but some times he sees them at Amar's Gym.

Marlene told me she has a condo in Snoqualmie, but she has been thinking of moving closer to the coast if her and Paulo get more serious. Her and Paulo had sat at our table and much to Eric's displeasure, she sat next to me, so he was forced to sit across from me next to Paulo, but he kept his legs wrapped around mine under the table the whole time we ate.

As we went to leave, we had said our goodbye to everyone and Eric punched Zeke hard in the arm, getting back at him for early this morning. I can't say I didn't smile widely as Zeke was rubbing his arm with a painful expression on his face. As Eric was ordering us both lattes for the ride home, Uriah had given me an overly enthusiastic hug, making me freeze, but he quickly released it as Eric gave him a death glare from his position at the counter. I almost thought Uriah was going to receive the same fate as Zeke. I froze again but I think it was more out of shocked because Max had stood up and gave me a hug to. It felt a little odd but when he whispered to me that he was glad we found each other, it warmed my heart.

In a way, it really seems like everyone that works at the camp is one big dysfunctional family. A family I am really happy to join.

"What are you staring at?" Eric ask as I realize he is looking at me. I feel my face redden because I was just caught staring at him. "I was just thinking how hot you look when you don't shave." He gives me the most adorable smirk as he kisses my hand. He pulls into a parking spot and I have failed to notice we had gotten off the freeway. He said it was a mall but it isn't a indoor mall, it is actually a strip mall that goes around in a triangle. There is so many name brand stores but I don't have a lot of money on me. I am hoping the fact that they call it an _outlet mall_ , that the prices are really less than normally.

"So where do you want to go first?" I am feeling a little overwhelmed because I have no idea. I have nothing, I need everything, underwear, bras, jeans, shirts and even shoes. "Um, I don't know." I say shrugging my arms. He laughs, quickly taking my hand. "Come on, we can start at the Nike store, I need a few things from there." He gives me a handsome smile and I love how at ease he is holding my hand as we walk to the store.

* * *

Four hours, six stores and countless bags later, we finally make it back to the car. Eric puts all the bags in the trunk of his Dodge Charger. I never knew shopping was so damn exhausting. I never really had money to just shop like that. Eric opens my door and I sink down into the comfortable seat and take a deep breath in relief that we are done.

I am still irritate, Eric wouldn't let me pay for anything. He just kept telling me that I needed to save my money. After the first store when I realized he wasn't going to let me pay, I tried to limited the things I bought. I got all the basic stuff I needed and then a with a little more coaxing from Eric saying I would need cloths for the gym, or to go out on the water, I picked up a few other things. I was not fooled, I know it was his way of getting me to buy more.

I paid him back when I was trying on my undergarments at the last store we went to and I insisted on getting his opinion. I could tell he was getting rather uncomfortable in his jeans after the first few lacey bra/underwear sets. Finally, after several more request for his opinion, he told me he needed to go look for some new socks. I laughed knowing I had gotten to him. Once I had finished, I found him and asked him which one he liked better, the black set or the red one. He kissed me hard, grinding himself against me, informing me I would be getting both and he didn't want to hear another word about it. I couldn't help the mile wide smile that crossed my face as he had to adjust his pants again. It was the most hilarious thing to see him all hot and bothered.

We decide to grab a few hamburgers from Burger King and then get back on the freeway. I am a little nervous about eating in his nice car but he hands me mine and tells me to eat, then he gets one for himself. I can't help but watch him. I love how relaxed he is and it feels so normal to be here with him. It is like we have done this a hundred times before.

As I take a bite, he tells me that if traffic is ok, we will be there in just under an hour. An hour until I see my new home. A wave of anxiety hits me and suddenly I am not so hungry. "Dani, eat." His use of my nickname catches my attention because he seems to only use it when he is irritated. I see that his attitude about my appetite has not changed much. "Fine." I tell him because I really don't want to fight. We have been having such a great day.

He takes his hand off the wheel making me nervous since his other hand is holding his burger but I see him bring his knee up to steer, however, it is still a little unnerving. He grabs his phone out of the charger and sets it in my hand. "Here, pick some music to play." He tells me with a smile. Music, he knows that is the way to calm me. I scroll through his play list and decide on I am in the mood for _A Day to Remember._ I turn on the song 'Have Faith in Me' since it seems appropriate for the moment and it begins playing through the bluetooth into the car's stereo system. I glance over at Eric and I see a smile tug at his lips. As the song plays I begin to relax a little and as the song ends Eric leans over, pulling my face toward him and kisses me on my temple. "Don't worry babe, _I'd never let you go_."

* * *

We take the Des Moines exit off the freeway. Eric rolls down his window and takes a deep breath. I mimic him and it smells funny to me. "What is that smell?" He laughs and squeezes my hand. "That is ocean air." I look at him confused. "I thought you lived on The Sound or something like that."

"I do, The _Puget Sound_ is an Inlet off the Pacific Ocean." I have never been to the ocean, I don't know, it smells different. As the water comes into view I see the water. It is really pretty. After another minute we pull up to a building that says 'Park Place Condos'. Eric punches in a code and it opens the door. We drive in and it is in a large parking garage. Eric parks the car and we get out. We get the bags out of the trunk and I follow him over to an elevator. We go up to the second floor and he goes to the end of the hallway, I notice there are only four doors, I guess he doesn't have many neighbors.

He unlocks the door and we go in. He walks toward the other side of the condo and sets the bags on a table, Almost in a daze I walk to the back wall that is covered in floor to ceiling windows looking out at the water. The condo has a beautiful view sitting back just behind the Marina. I look around and the condo is covered in white and beige colors. It feel so light, airy and very clean.

Finally my eyes find their way back to Eric and he is just standing watching me as he tugs on his lip. He raises an eyebrow at me. "Your home is beautiful Eric." He walks over to me with a half smile, placing his hand on my cheek. "This is our home. Now come on, let me show you around." He grabs my hand. "Well, this is obviously the livingroom, dinning room and the kitchen." He says waiving his hand around at the open floor plan, then pulls me down past the kitchen, back toward the door and we goes down the hall before he opens a door. There is a very neat room with a queen size bed, but there is not much in here. "This is the spare bedroom." He says quietly and then we continue.

Through another door I can see a bathroom and we pause for just a moment so I can look inside. We come to the last door. Eric seems to pause for a moment almost unsure of himself, but he shakes it off quickly and opens the door pulling me through it. We are in another room, which I presume is his bedroom. It is fairly big which is dominated by a huge black four poster bed that is contrasted by the white color of the walls and floor. There is a few other pieces of black furniture such as bed tables, dresser, chest and a small love seat couch. It is all spaced out nicely and the bed sits in front of another wall sized window looking out to the water. _Wow_ , this place looks like it cost a million dollars. I go and stand in front of the window, it is so amazing.

I feel hands wrap around my waist and he lightly runs his lips across my neck. "You like?" He says almost hesitantly. "It is beautiful Eric!" I feel him let out a sigh so I turn around to look at him. "You ok?" I see him hesitate. "Yeah, it's just...I have never had a girl in here before." He bites his lip and I raise an eyebrow. "You really expect me to believe that." There is no way, I know he has been with quite a few women. I make sure my face shows I don't believe that. "Hey, I am serious. This is kind of like my sanctuary. I don't allow people in here." That is actually kind of adorable, and I feel beyond loved.

I lean up and give him a kiss. He take no time at all before deepens the kiss, but his kiss is much more rough then it usually is. He picks me up quickly and carries me to the bed, laying me on my back as he crawls up over me. I can feel his desperation, almost like he is afraid I am going to disappear. "I have been dreaming about what it would be like to have you in my bed." He whispers to me between hungry kisses. "Well I am here now. So what are you going to do with me." I ask try to ask playfully but it come out to breathy because all I want right now is him in me. He pulls off his shirt and his lust filled eyes mirror my feelings.

He quickly removes my pants, then his own and positions back over me. "Babe, I swear I will make love to you later, but right now I just need you." He tells me before pushing into me. "Fuck you are always so wet for me." He growls as he starts to move inside me. He feels so incredible. He kisses becomes feverish and he moves quicker and quicker in me and his lips move down to my neck. The deep pull in me begins to build quickly as I feel his overwhelming need for me. I try to pull him closer running my nails down his back and I am delighted by the moan that leaves his mouth. I think I need this just as much as he does. I lift my hips to meet his and he pushes deeper and deeper into me. I am so close to the edge. "I fucking love you Danielle." He says roughly and his words cause me to explode around him as I scream his name. "Your so fucking amazing." He tells me, spilling himself in me with a few more thrust. He rolls off me and we both try to catch our breath. That was quick but oh so satisfying.

Once our breathing has evened out a little, he rolls on his side to face me. "Sorry babe, I couldn't help myself." I laugh because I cannot believe he is actually apologizing. "Eric, you can feel free to do that to me anytime, there is nothing to be sorry for." He kisses me on my nose. "I will keep that in mind. Now how about we get your stuff put away. Then you can change into something comfortable and we can go walk around and go to dinner. I have no food in the house besides a few non-perishables in the cupboard."

I get up and he shows me into the huge en suite so I can freshen up, which is through a massive walk through closet. After I pee and splash some water on my face I go back into the room. Eric has brought in all of the bags and has begun pulling all the clothes out of them. "Tomorrow, I will move some stuff around so you have room to put your stuff but for now I am just going to fold it and leave them on the chest."

"I don't need much space Eric." I explain but he just rolls his eyes at me. He hands me a change of clothes. "Go ahead and change, I will do this." I can tell he is a bit tense as if he is a little uncomfortable. I set the clothes down and wrap my arms around him. "You ok babe?" I ask hesitantly. He wraps his arms around me and kisses the top of my head. "I'm fine, it is just a little weird for me. I mean, it has been just me for so long, but don't worry about it. Go on, get dressed, I want to show you around." I give him a smile and take the clothes to change in the bathroom.

I put on the tight black jeans and the cute blue blouse Eric handed me. I look to see if I can find a brush and find it in a drawer. Everything in here is so neat and everything has a place. I am starting to think Eric is OCD. I am too slightly but I think his far exceeds mine. When I exit he has all my clothes folded nicely on the chest and he changed into a tight white shirt, that goes well with his dark jeans. So simple but so sexy. "Ready?" He ask and I nod my head. I quickly put on my new sketchers tennis shoes and we head out the door.

We exit the lobby and Eric has my hand again in his. We walk down to the marina and we walk out on to the long dock. "That is Maury and Vashon islands. There are lots of islands up and down the Sound. Sometime in the next few weeks we can go exploring if you like. There are a lot of different things to see." My face lights up. "I would love that."

* * *

By the time we get back to the condo, the sun is setting. We walked all around town, Eric showing me where everything was. Pretty much anything I need is within walking distance other than there are no fast food places in down town Des Moines, but there are several restaurants to eat at. We went to dinner 'Wally's Chowder House' and grabbed a few groceries for tomorrow.

I go to put our leftovers and the groceries away in his fridge. When I open the door, there is absolutely nothing in it. It looks almost brand new. I take out a few Coronas before shutting the door and hand him one. We go out and sit on the patio seat to watch the sunset. I am comfortably sitting with my legs over his lap and my head on his arm that is slung over my shoulders. We sit in comfortably silence, just enjoying eachother presents.

"Are you happy?" Eric ask me after a while. I look toward him, my eyes pulling together. "I couldn't be happier Eric." Maybe he is having second thoughts about this. "Are you happy?" I ask but I am not sure I want to know the answer. After a beat, he smiles widely. He leans in and kisses me softly. "Not to sound corny but this is literally a dream come true." I look deep into his beautiful eyes and I am a hundred percent sure, I am exactly where I want to be. "You can say that again." He kisses me again, he grabs me around my waist and under my legs and stands up. I grab his neck holding on and I laugh out of shock. "I think I made a promise to you earlier and I plan on keeping that promise." How fucking cute can he be.

He takes us into the room and lays me gently on the bed. "Welcome home babe." He says with so much affection before making sweet love to me. Taking his time, loving, worshiping each and ever part of me until we are both completely exhausted. As I lay on his chest close to unconscienceness, I can't help but wonder how long this dream can last. Nothing good in my life ever last.

* * *

 **So what did you guys think? She knows something is coming, but what is it. Let me know your thoughts, comments. More to come soon. Until next time.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone. Sorry, I am a day late. Still trying to get back on schedule after my busy week. Thank you for all the reviews, as always, you guys are an inspiration for me to continue on this story. Here is another chapter for your enjoyment**

This story is rated M/MA for Lemons, language and situations. Not appropriate for younger readers!

Disclaimer: All divergent characters belong to Veronica Roth, all original characters are mine. V.R. characters look like those in the movie. Hope you all enjoy, reviews and thoughts are welcome.

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

 _(Saturday, October 3rd)_

"How the hell did you get this number?" I hear Eric growl loudly as I slip on one of his tee shirts now that I am clean. He sounds down right pissed. Please tell me that it isn't Lynn. I don't want to deal with that bitch today. It has been such a wonderful day.

"I do not want to speak with him. You tell me!" I stop brushing my hair. _Who the hell is he talking to?_

" _WHAT?_ When?" His loud, cold tone sends a chill down my spine. I step out of the bathroom and look toward the bed where I left him lounging reading a book, but he is no long on it. He is standing next to the bed and his back is to me. Something has freaked him out enough for him to get up. He is just standing there, unnaturally still. Every muscle is flexed and I can't even tell if he is breathing. _What the fuck is going on?_ I don't know what is wrong with him. I'm not sure if I should try to comfort him or let him be. He doesn't like showing weakness and this week I have noticed on a few occasions, he has felt that way, making him be hard on himself for letting me see him weak.

"I am still here and I don't fucking want to see him." He rubs the back of his neck for just a second as if wiped away something, his voice much more quiet. All the anger is gone and has been replaced with something else but I can't tell if he is upset or nervous. "He doesn't care about anyone but himself. I will call _you_ tomorrow." His voice has turned totally professional. I am beyond confused to what is going on. He hangs up the phone and continues to stand completely still as he looks at the floor.

I walk slowly over to him. I need to know what is going on, I have never seen him like this. I hesitate for a moment behind him before I very slowly put my hand on his shoulder. "Babe, is everything ok?" I ask softly. I wait but he doesn't answer me. "Eric who was on the phone?" I give him a second to answer and just when I thought he wasn't going to answer me, he turns around quickly but doesn't look at me. My hand falls back to my side and the tension spewing from him is almost suffocating. It takes him another minute to answer me. "My mother." He says completely void of emotion. His eyes are somewhere far off. I am really getting worried.

He moves past me and walks out of our room. _His mother_. He still hasn't told me much about his parents other than they the fact that they were cold, calculating and he completely hated them. He was raised in a home without loving or caring parents. They expected nothing less then perfection from him growing up, causing him to be extremely competitive to be the best, but also caused him to look at himself extremely negatively since he never could live up to their expectations. A frown paste itself on my lips at the thought and I follow him out of the room. He enters the kitchen and pulls the bottle of whiskey out of the cupboard. I stop on the other side of the room as I see him take a long swig of it right out of the bottle. "Eric, what's wrong?" I try coaxing an answer out of him.

He begins breathing heavily and I see the anger rise in his face. I don't know what to do, I feel so helpless. He won't look at me, he won't talk to me, he is lost in his own world and I am failing to break through to him. He takes another long drink and he slams it back on the counter. I jump slightly as the loud noise echoes in the room. He grabs the neck of the bottle with both of his hands. I see him trying to reel in his anger as he twist his fingers around the bottle as if he was trying to squeeze water out of a towel.

He isn't talking to me so I guess the only other thing to do is to try to comfort him physically until he is ready to talk to me. I take a step forward and he suddenly picks up the bottle. "FUCK!" He screams and throws the bottle down on the floor with an unbelievable force. I turn quickly trying to avoid the pieces of glass that fly out in every direction.

I begin to feel a tightening in my chest. I don't know what to do, for the first time ever, Eric is scaring the shit out of me and I don't know what to do. I look up at him and his hands are resting on the edge of the counter and he is breathing heavily. I feel a tear slip down my cheek and I am trying to focus on breathing. I know Eric would never hurt me, but I am so frightened right now.

He finally looks over at me and I can only look back. After a moment I see concern replace a bit of the anger in his eyes. He stands up taking a step toward me and I take a step back purely out of reflex making him freeze again. He quickly takes a look at the mess on the floor and then looks at me again before he closes his eyes and tilts his head to the ceiling. "Fucking screw up," He says to himself. Another tear escapes out of my eye and right now I want nothing more than to go over and hold him and explain to him that he is not a screw up, but I am frozen in place.

When he finally opens his eyes, he looks down at the floor again and I can tell he is extremely angry, not just at what ever upset him to begin with but he is upset with himself as well knowing full well that he has frightened me. He opens his mouth as if to say something, but then closes it again. His hands fist at his side. _What the hell is going on?_ Tears have begun to flow freely down my cheeks as the rest of my body is frozen in place.

His gaze finally comes back to me and I see he has calmed himself just a little. "I'm sorry." He says in a voice so quiet I almost didn't hear him, but what worries me more than his tone, is his eyes are glazed over. He walks around the kitchen island heading for the front door as he grabs his sneakers that are sitting neatly by the door and yanks the door open with overwhelming force. "Eric?" I whisper. I only know he heard me because of the very brief pause in his stride before he slammed the front door shut behind him.

He is gone.

For what seems like the hundred time in the last few minutes, I wonder what the hell is going on. I fall to my knees and try to calm myself before I pass out from lack of oxygen. I squeeze my eyes shut. _Push away all thoughts and focus on your breathing. Breath in, one, two, three, four. Breath out, one, two, three, four. Breath in, one, two, three, four. Breath out, one, two, three, four._ I hear Christians voice in my head coaching me through my panic attack. It starts to work and my breathing begins to return to normal. The swimming dizziness in my head recedes.

I open my eyes to the mess laid out in front of me and I am not sure what to do. I have no idea where he went, when he will be back, or if he even wants me here. I knew this was too good to be true. _Well Fuck_. It isn't like I can go anywhere right now since I have no car and really I have no idea where I could go. I could always call Paulo since he lives close but I shake off the thought almost as quickly as it enters my mind. I know he would come but then what? What the hell would I say to him? Eric likes to keep his private life private and I really don't want to ask Paulo for help.

I am not some weak little girl that needs rescuing whenever something bad happens. I just want to crawl into bed right now, but I can't leave this mess. I take a deep breath and sigh. I stand up and get the broom trying to be careful not to cut myself on all the glass everywhere. Today was such a wonderful day and it has been marred by something that I have no clue about. I don't want to think about what just happened, so I try to focus my mind somewhere else.

This whole week was nothing less than a dream come true. We spent all week hanging out together. Every morning we went to the gym which he had explained was his normal morning routine. He told me I didn' t have to go with him, but I really did want to. The mile run to the gym and the workout reminded me a lot of camp and it felt oddly comforting. Having him beside me as an equal instead of my instructor was kind of different but in a good way. Although he still acted like my instructor occasionally correcting my form or pushing me to do more sets to improve my strength. The love in my heart for him just continued to grow.

The owner of the gym, Amar, was quite handsome for an older man. He immediately took a liking to me much to Eric's irritation. However, I believe the irritation was only due to the fact that another man was giving me so much attention. Eric taught a few self defense classes this week and Amar graciously let me sit in on them although I did not participate. I watched Eric closely trying to remember how he executed each move, just like when we were at camp. He was really good at his job. I always thought his hard core attitude was just to intimidate, but now looking at it from the other side, it seems that it is to just push people to the limit that he is certain they can achieve. Just like he pushed my limits and ultimately helping me.

Our morning workouts weren't the only thing we did every day. We had quickly fell into a daily routine. Every morning we would wake up tangled around each other and after some kind of amazing sexual activity I would make us breakfast before we would go workout. He was insistent on making us lunch since I made breakfast and then we would go out to dinner each night. Not always fancy places, but anywhere we could just go sit and eat. We spent each night wrapped in each others arms, often fulfilling our insatiable hunger for each other. I have never been so happy before in my life.

Then today we spent the entire day downtown. We went and explored the famous Pike Place Market. There were so many different cool booths and stores. Eric was very patient as I stopped at many of them so I could explore. Occasionally I would buy something or Eric would buy it for me. This time around he actually let me pay for a few things now that my check had been deposited in the bank and I had a nice new bank card that I was itching to use. I think he let me pay more for my enjoyment since I had actually told him that. I got to watch the men throwing fish around which was funny. We took a few pictures of the different things around the pier while he told me a bunch of Seattle's history, like the great fire and how there is a tour you can take of what they call the 'Underground Seattle' of place that were built over afterward. He promised he would take me one day which excited me, giving me even more to look forward to. He was extremely knowledgeable about everything and it was really interesting to hear about it all.

After the market we went on the Seattle Great Wheel and had dinner at this awesome little place on the pier. Other than the guy that hit on me in the market causing Eric to get a little 'over protective', it was such a great day. We had gotten home late and Eric chose to sit and read a book while I decided I needed a relaxing bath after walking all day. The tub in the en suite is to die for and I had picked up some bath salts at the market. I remember thinking how sexy he looked barefoot in his jeans and tee shirt that hugged his perfectly chiseled upper body. It had taken all my will power to not ask him to join me, but I knew that my sexual need would be satisfied once I got into bed. It was why I had chosen to wear his shirt to bed. I had quickly found out in the week that he loved it when I wore nothing but his shirt to bed. So much for that idea.

I stood up and grabbing the bowl of soapy water I had just used to clean up the floor and cupboards. I could smell the whiskey but I don't know if I could clean it up any better. I had washed down the entire floor all the way out to the dining room and had washed down all the cabinets on the lower half of the kitchen. I wash out the bowl and and rag I used and put them away.

As I looked around the condo I realize how cold and empty if felt without him here. Come to think about it, this was the first time I had been here by myself. I miss him already so much and it had only been an hour. The smell of whiskey was starting to irritate me when I suddenly remember it had splashed on me when he broke the bottle. I bring the shirt up and smell it and sure enough, I was smelling what was on my shirt. I need another shower.

I go into the bathroom and turn on the shower. I start to put my hair up in a high bun and I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror causing me to freeze. There is a small trail of blood leading from my neck down under the neck line of the shirt. As I examine it closer, it looks like a piece of glass must have cut me. I hadn't been standing very close but it was close enough that I was hit with the contents of the bottle from the sheer force that he threw it. I inspect the rest of my body and there are a couple more nicks on my legs but nothing bad. I make sure there isn't glass in any of them and get into the shower to clean myself up. I stand under the stream of water letting it wash away the last few hours. I begin to relax and my neck and shoulder muscles are noticeably sore for the tension I that has built up.

When I finally run out of hot water I turn off the water and wrap myself in a towel before I examined the cut on my neck again. It didn't looks so bad now but it is very noticeable because its red and several inches long. At least it isn't deep. I throw on another one of Eric's shirts along with a pair of underwear and go into the bedroom stopping at the foot of the bed. I can almost see him standing there again, upset on the phone with his mother. That was another thing I don't get. He told me it had been a long time since he talked to his parents. _Why would his mom be calling him after all this time?_ I am assuming the person he didn't want to talk to was his dad but I could be wrong. _What could make him so upset?_ Not just upset, there were so many other emotions that had crossed his face in the few minutes it had taken him to take the phone call and leave.

Not to mention, something that hit him so deep that he had appeared to completely forgot anything else in the world existed, including me. There is so much about him I don't know about him and I wonder if this is the beginning of the end. I can't help but hear his words from what seems like so long ago. _'As much as I hate to say it there is a good chance I will hurt you because I tend to fuck up anything good in my life.'_ Strangely enough, nothing good in my life never stays which makes our whole situation just a disaster waiting to happen.

 _Where is he._ I am beginning to really worry about him. He left his phone on the counter so I can't call him and I have no idea where he would go this late so I can't even go look for him. I feel so tired and worn out. I don't feel right sleeping in here without him so I grab the small fleece blanket out of the chest and go into the living room, sitting myself on the couch in front of the big window looking over the water. The moon is shinning bright on the water and I have only left the dim light on in the kitchen so the condo is fairly dark. I take a deep breath and hope he will come home soon. I don't care what he did or how he freaked out on me, I just want to know he is ok. I lay my head against the back of the couch and stare out of the window. Eventually exhaustion takes over and I fall into the blackness of unrestful sleep.

* * *

I wake up to the strong smell of whiskey and I wonder if I didn't clean up well enough. Then I feel something lightly stroke my neck, my eyes fly open to see Eric sitting next to me, staring at the cut on my neck. I immediately feel relief that he is home safely, then I really look over him. He looks odd, his eyes and face drooping, his shoulders slumped over uncharacteristically, and that fucking smell. He is obviously drunk. Not just drunk but really drunk. He continues to stare at my neck. All the anger is gone and his eyes look so sad. "Babe?" I say cautiously, a little unsure of what to expect. His eyes move up to find mine and he swallows loudly.

"I'd that din't I?" He slurs. Definitely really drunk. I sigh loudly; at least he is back home. "I am fine Eric, are you ok?" I take his hand from my neck and hold it between both of mine. His eyes fall to my hands. "Don't." He tells me quietly. "Don't what?" I am not sure what the hell he is talking about. "I fuckkked up. 'ust like alwaysss." _Crap._ I am not in the mood for his self pity. "Eric stop now." He suddenly pulls his hand out of mine. "S'ok, I under..." His voice tails off before he finishes his though and he certainly isn't making much sense. " _Under_ what?" I try to get out a better response. "I hurt yoooou. Youuu and it, I son't serv you!" His voice is becoming harsh. I need to get him to bed so he can sleep this shit off.

I grab his face and make him look me in my eyes. "Stop." I say with as much authority as i can and then stand up. "Sorrrry pincess, I really loooveee you. S'rry." I shake my head. "Eric, come on." I grab his hand and try to pull him up off the couch but he is too heavy. "Eric, fucking get up." I whine because I am already exhausted. He looks at me pulling his eyebrows and I pull him up again, this time successfully, but he is very unsteady on his feet. "You kiiickin me outtt?" _Seriously?_ "Come on Eric." I pull him toward the room and he stumbles forward, only staying on his feet because I grab him with all my strength to steady him.

I somehow manage to get him to our room and he drops sideways onto the mattress hard causing the mattress to bounce under his weight. Shaking my head, I kneel down and begin to remove his shoes. "H'sss right." Now what is he talking about. "No one willl marrry my f'ckin asssss." _Marry? What the hell._ "Our kidddds will haaaatte meeee." _OUR KIDS!_ Ok he is really out of it. I shake my head. _Just ignore it Dani._ I get up and try to pull him over to get him to lay properly on the bed but it is useless, he is out. _Well Fuck!_ I look down at him. I wonder what the hell was going through his head.

I am obviously not going to get him to move on the bed properly and there is no way I can lift his dead weight. I go around the other side of the bed, grab a pillow and without being gentle, I get it under his head. Then on to my next problem. He may be warm fully clothed but I am cold. I walk back out into the living room and retrieve the blanket. As I walk back into the room I look at Eric. I hadn't noticed before but his clothes are a bit dirty. As I look closer I notice a slight bruise on his cheek. I pick up his hand but there are no indications that he hit anyone or anything. _Was he fighting?_ I pull up his shirt looking for damage and sure enough, there is a large bruise on his ribs. _Dammit._ I look over to the clock, it is just after three in the morning. Ok, so the bars closed over an hour ago, where the hell has he been.

I take a deep breath. He has a lot of explaining to do in the morning. I feel around his head to make sure there is no lumps in case he was hit in the head. Satisfied that the damage is minimal, I grab a pillow and crawl onto the bed sideways next to him. I lay on my back staring at the ceiling wondering what the hell is going on and what the hell I am going to do. I am so confused and I don't fucking know. I hate this feeling and right now I really wish I could talk to Jeff. I really could use his wisdom right now, but it is still way to early in Chicago.

Suddenly Eric shifts and lays his head across my stomach taking me by surprise. "Danielle," He whispers. "Yeah babe?" I quietly answer. His tone seems so much different than he was just minutes ago. He doesn't say anything for a minute and I am not sure if he is awake or talking in his sleep. His arm wraps around me tightly. "Don't leave me." His voice is so distant, I am fairly certain he is asleep. I breath in deeply. I run my fingers through his hair and even though he is heavy, I don't try to move him. "Stay, please." His pleading whispers come again. "Eric, you awake?" I ask quietly trying to figure out if he really is sleeping and within a minute he is snoring lightly.

I take another deep breath. I have no idea what tomorrow is going to bring, but right now I am done trying to figure things out in my head. I close my eyes as I continue to stroke his hair trying to get the thought out of my head that he thinks I will leave. I feel a tear fall down the side of my face. The thought of leaving him actually hurts deep in my chest. I don't know why in the world he thinks I would leave him. I was more worried about him leaving me. "I'm not going anywhere." I tell him softly before I succumb to an exhausted sleep.

* * *

 **Well, well. I know, what a terrible way to end the chapter. I am hoping to get back on schedule so you will only need to wait a few days. Let me know what you thought. Reviews and comments are always appreciated. Check out my tumblr to see photos. Until next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey Everyone. Thanks again for all the reviews. I will be trying to message responses this week. So I had wrote this one with the last chapter to get back on track but I will not be on tomorrow so I decided to post this one a day early to make up for the late one this week. Lucky you get two chapters back to back. Well I was pretty happy with how this chapter turned out so Enjoy!**

 **This chapter is rated MA. You have been warned!**

This story is rated M/MA for Lemons, language and situations. Not appropriate for younger readers!

Disclaimer: All divergent characters belong to Veronica Roth, all original characters are mine. V.R. characters look like those in the movie. Hope you all enjoy, reviews and thoughts are welcome.

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

 _(Sunday, October 4th)_

I wake up extremely hot, unable to breath fully and in need to pee badly. I open my eyes to see Eric is curled up with his head still on my chest and his arm draped over me. I can still smell the stale stench of alcohol on him. _Christ._ Last night was so crazy.

He moves his arm slightly causing my bladder to scream at me before my thoughts can run away with my head. I very carefully slide out from under him which is not an easy feat. I don't want him to wake up just yet. With how drunk he was last night, he needs to sleep it off. It is only eight in the morning which is later than we normally sleep but five hours of sleep isn't enough.

After using the bathroom, I search the cabinets until I find some advil since I am sure he is going to need it. I fill the glass on the bathroom counter with water and go back to the room, leaving them both on the night table. I shake my head as I look down at him. It never seems to shock me how young and peaceful he looks when he sleeps. I am bothered by the now evident bruise on his cheek. I really need to do something, I can't sit here or my thoughts are going to start running wild. I cover him with the blanket that would normally be to small for his tall body but with the way he is curled up, it works just fine. I quickly kiss him on his temple and he stirs for a second but stays asleep. Feeling the cold on my skin I decide to slip on my a pair of leggings and socks.

I go to the kitchen to make coffee, which I am in desperate need of. My body still feels tired but there is no way my mind is going to let me sleep, at least not for a while. Once the coffee is on, I look in the fridge absent mindedly. Thankfully we went grocery shopping the day after we arrived, so I don't have to go get food. I decide to make him some breakfast, which may be more than he deserves after last night, but my good nature wins the internal conflict in my head. I take a deep calming breath. My nose wrinkles upward as I notice there is still a faint smell of alcohol .

My OCDness gets the better of me and because he probably will sleep for a few more hours, I decide to wash down the floor again before I cook breakfast. Besides, cleaning gives me a weird sense of relief when I have pent up irritation and frustration. I get the bowl I used last night back out and fill it with hot soapy water and then decide to add a touch of bleach. I am probably the weirdness person in the world because I actually like the smell of it. To me, bleach is what _clean_ smells like. I find my Ipod and turn on my music loud to drowned out all my thoughts.

I start washing down cabinets and the entire floor singing each song to myself so there is no room for my mind to wander. Like last night, I go all the way out to the dinning room, but I don't stop there. I end up washing the entire kitchen and dining room floors, as well as the floor in the entry way. I am surprised that that the floor really isn't very dirty, even considering he was the only one living here. It must be his OCDness and I laugh a little at the thought of him on his knees scrubbing the floor as I rinse out the bowl and gloves.

I wonder over to window looking out to the water. The clouds have shown up to cover the beautiful blue sky and I think about how ironic it is that the difference in weather from yesterday to today, greatly matches my mood change from yesterday to today. Again I do not want to think about that shit right now. I look through the songs on my Ipod and decide to listen to something a little heavy and turn on the _Full Devil Jacket_ album that Eric had added onto it. I had immediately fell in love with the entire album.

I make my way back over to the kitchen and start pulling out the stuff to make breakfast. It is already almost ten so this will probably be our breakfast and lunch. I drizzle some oil in a pan and put a in a few handfuls of simply shreds, then put some bacon in the oven before I start on the fried eggs. I keep my music up loud, singing along so I have to concentrate on the words instead of letting my mind run rampant. Once the potatoes are done with a nice crunchy top and the bacon has been put onto paper towels to drain off the grease, I get out the toaster and pop in some bread. I find it funny that Eric doesn't like to keep anything on his counters other than the coffee pot and a few canisters. I really need to get something else to put on them, maybe a few small flower pots. I am just getting all the food on both plates when the toast pops up and I butter the slices and put them on as well. I wipe down everything, wash the few dishes and put them into the dishwasher and put away the toaster. I feel mighty accomplished for this morning I muse as I try to take a drink of my already empty coffee cup.

Coffee, I need more coffee. I turn toward the coffee pot and I am startled to see Eric leaning against the back of the couch watching me. I notice he seems freshly showered, wearing shorts and a tank top. _How long has he been standing there?_ I pull my ear buds out, but he just continues to stare at me as he bites the inside of his cheek, something like shame all over his face. After a minute, I take a deep breath, setting my cup down and grabbing the two plates to take them to the table. I return to the kitchen grabbing forks and napkins putting them on the table before grabbing us both a cup of coffee. As I set them on the table I look to Eric who is still rooted in place and raise an eyebrow, silently asking him if he was going to join me for breakfast. His eye drop to the ground and he pushes off the couch, coming to sit at the table.

I sit down as well but I feel uneasy. I do not like the tension between us and I really wish I knew what he was thinking, but I am not sure if I should start questioning him or if I should wait to see if he explains himself. We sit in a deafening silence for several minutes and I can no long hold my tongue. "What happened last night?" I ask trying not to sound to harsh but the irritation in my voice is clear. He puts his fork down and takes a deep breath as he stares down at his food. "I am sorry about last night." His tone is very soft and he doesn't look up at me. "About which part." I say with a scuff before my filter to mouth can kick in. He looks up at me with sad eyes and look down at my own food because I actually feel a little bad for saying that.

"All of it. None of it was your fault and I had no right to take it out on you." Well he really didn't take it out on me, I just sort of got in the way and then cleaned up the mess. "Do-do you want to leave?" He stutters out. My eye close and sigh because right now that is the last thing on my mind. "I understand and I will pay for your flight home." He almost chokes out his words. "Eric, I don't want to fucking leave ok. This is my home. I just want to understand what the hell happened last night. We had the most amazing day, then you get a phone call and completely freak out." He looks at me confused. "You mean you-"

"Stop Eric, I said I don't want to leave." I cut off his words before he can repeat them and I looking into his eyes with frustration, but the frustration quickly dissipates as I see longing in his eyes. He grabs my hand that is on the table and pulls at me lightly, pleading silently with me to go to him. I willingly stand as he pulls me sideways onto his lap, hugging me tight to him as he buries his face in my neck. My hands come up to hold him around his neck. "Please forgive babe. I fucked up last night. I just- I just totally fucking lost it." He pulls back just a little and kisses the scratch on my neck. "And I hurt the only person left in this world that I care about." I pull back from him holding his jaw so he looks at me. "I am fine."

"Dammit Dani, you are not fine. I shatter a damn bottle that cut you and then I left you when you were in the middle of a damn panic attack. I mean, I scared the shit out of you and then instead of comforting you like I should have, I took off like a fucking coward because I couldn't deal with my own fucked up feelings." My eyebrows pull together, he is always talking down about himself. "Eric I am a big girl and I can deal with my own panic attacks. You didn't scare me, I just freaked out a little because I have never seen you act like that." I lie to him. "It would help if you would tell me what the hell you mother said to you to made you freak out like that."

I leans his forehead on my shoulder and I give him a minute to answer me. "My grandfather died." He whispers as I feel him swallow a lump in his throat. I don't remember him saying anything about a grandfather. "Fuck Eric, I'm sorry." I tell him softly. They must have been close if he freaked out like that. "He was the closest thing I had to a normal parent." He explains, confirming my thoughts. He takes a deep breath before continuing.

"My real parents only cared about what I looked like to everyone else. They wanted the perfect sons. My older brother and I were pushed to do everything and we were expected to not just do good but to be the best at it. In addition to school, we took piano, guitar, and French lessons. Once we hit age seven, sports were added. Our days were planned out from sunrise to sunset. Most people wouldn't think this was so bad but they didn't see what went on behind close doors. On top of that, there was a huge difference in the way I was raised and my older brother. Everything seemed to come so natural to him and my parents favored him in everything. My father would be down right cruel to me. I was the 'accident' of the family. They never planned to have me and he made sure I knew it. I tried my hardest to live up to their standards but I couldn't which often got me a smack on my back with the belt. I knew better to act out in front of him so I just held it on in. By the time I reached high school it had taken a toll on me and I began getting in fights, not to win, but to allow the physical pain to numb my emotional pain."

I couldn't hide the disapproval that crossed my face and I was happy he couldn't see it. "The only good thing I had in my life was my grandfather. My father's dad wasn't exactly a big huggable bear, but we were very close. He didn't show much emotion but he also never put me down a day in my life. I could tell he disapproved of the way my parents treated me and he always put in his words of wisdom when he could. That man had a way with words. I swear he was the only person that kept me half sane. The best memories I have as a child all include him. On rare occasions my father would allow him to take me fishing. It did seem like much just sitting there for hours and hours in a peaceful silence but for me it was an escape. Escape from the harsh life my parents made for me. No work, no practice, no derogatory remarks, only peace with his occasional words of wisdom. He was the only person I truly cared about growing up and now he is gone."

My heart is crushed as I hear the sadness etched in his voice. I can't help but wrap my arms around him and he pulls me tighter to him. "God, I don't know what I would do if I didn't have you right now. I can't fucking can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am for last night." He pulls back and looks into my eyes. "But I swear to you, I will spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you." He kisses my lips so softly and then pulls me back into a tight embrace. "I love you Eric. I will always be here for you."

"I know. I love you too and I should have never shut you out like that. Please forgive me babe." I half smile at him. "I forgave you the moment you woke me up this morning and I knew you were safely back home with me." Both of his eyebrows go up and irritation appears on his face. "Yeah, about that. You didn't happen to take my wallet out of my pants did you?" My lips press into a line. "No, why?"

"Shit. I think I got robbed last night." He lets out a short chuckle. "Honestly I don't remember anything. After I left here I wondered around for a bit before I ended up at the bar up the street. If the gym was open, I would have just went there, but it wasn't. I took shot after shot until I blacked out. I wasn't...like an ass or anything when I got home was I?" I smile at him because he really wasn't. He was just a bit irritating, but that was it. "It wasn't anything I couldn't handle. Although, out of everything that happened last night, what freaked me out the most was not knowing where you were." I chastise him because it was true. It was gut wrenching to not know where he was or if he was ok. "I will always be here for you Eric. Please don't shut me out like that again ok."

"Thanks babe. Now I better finish this fine breakfast you made me because I have several irritating phone calls to make."

* * *

"Hmm." Soft kisses cover my stomach waking me from my late afternoon nap. "Wake up princess."

"But I don't want to." I whine playfully at him. "Oh really he says, I guess I will go take a cold shower then." He says and I feel him rise off the bed and my joke seems to have backfired on me. "I swear on my life you have exactly two seconds to get back over here." I tell him in a disapproving tone. I hear him chuckle and feel the bed move as he crawls up over me. I finally open my eyes to see his beautiful eyes staring back at me. "I have a confession to make." A smile tugs at my lip. "Oh yeah, and what is that."

"I fucking love when you talk to me like that, and right now I want nothing more than to be buried in you." My Eric is definitely back. "Well then, by all means, proceed." He gives me his wicked smile and leans in to kiss my lips roughly. After a moment he stops and pulls back to look into my eyes. "You up for trying something different?" His apprehensive look makes me a little nervous. "Sure." I tell him trying to sound confident. He goes into the closet and quickly comes back out with something behind his back. I have to say, I am a bit intrigued by the excited vibe I am getting from him. He sits down next to me and I give him a questioning look. Leaning down, he kisses me passionately making the world around me fall away. He pulls me to sit up without breaking our deepening kiss. He quickly pulls my shirt off only breaking our kiss for the half a second it took for the shirt to clear our lips and I am vaguely aware he has laid me back again.

He pauses for a brief moment but doesn't remove his lips from mine. "If at any time it is too much, you tell me immediately ok." I don't answer him because I am actually excited. "Answer me or I will stop now." He pulls back to look at me in my eyes. "Ok, I will tell you. I promise." His mischievous smirk returns. "Give me your hands." I comply with his request and he takes my hands in his. He bends down kissing the center of each of my palms before looking down into my eyes. "I love you more than anything and I would never hurt you. What I am going to do is going to require you to give me your trust. Do you trust me?" The word 'yes' is out of my mouth without a thought and he leans back down kissing me more roughly than before, then sits back up staring intently into my eyes. He turns my hands so my palms are toward each other and holds both of them together in his one hand while he reaches for something behind him without breaking eye contact. As his hand comes back forward and my eyes look to see what it is.

He is holding a deep blue tie in his hand. I give him a questioning look but he doesn't say anything. He takes the thicker end of the tie and wraps it first around both my hands and then loops it between them before knotting it. The smirk he has on his face is so hot and my excitement makes an appearance in my panties. I have to admit I wasn't sure what to expect but this sure wasn't it and now that it is happening, I am a little excited. We have never done anything like this, but any time we have had sex or made love, it has been nothing short of mind blowing. When he has made sure my hands are secure to his liking he grabs my waist with both hands and pushes me up to one of the corners on the bed. I can't take my eyes off his face but out of the corner of my vision, I see him tie the other end to the bed post. When he is done, he has a look of satisfaction on his face. As he looks down to me, he bites his lip and then places another rough kiss on my lips before moving his mouth near my ear. "You ok princess?" He ask in a seductively low voice. "Yes." I whisper back too distracted by his warm lips kissing and sucking down my throat. _Damn, that feels amazing._ He doesn't stop, just continues to work his way down my body. No matter how many times he does this, I never get tired of how it feels.

"Now you can't get away from me." I barely hear him whisper on my stomach. When he makes it down to my leggings, He peels them off slowly taking my underwear with them. His eyes follow his hands as the lust takes over his eyes. He drags his finger up and down the inside of my thighs. His finger nails run over the most sensitive spot on between my pelvis and my upper thigh causing my eyes squeeze shut and a moan to escape my mouth. He pulls me down a little, so my arms are fully extended and my eyes fly back open and i am met with an evil but sexy smirk. He moves between my legs pushing them apart and begins kissing my stomach again before moving lower. He bites lightly along the front of my pelvis extracting another moan from me.

He takes a long slow lick all the way up my folds and then blows lightly over the area sending chills up my body. "Fuck Eric!" I moan and I feel his lip smile on mine. "You like that princess?" I answer with a moan as he does it yet again. "Always so wet for me. Hmmm, I will never tire of tasting you." He does it again and then circles his tongue around my bundle of nerves eliciting a gasp out of me. I feel the tug deep in me start to build as he begins alternating between licking, sucking and lightly biting me. I begin to squirm causing him to wrap his arms around my thighs and hold me down by my hips. I build higher and I pull at my wrist but they don't move. I have always resorted to pulling his hair as a way of coping with the intense feeling that builds inside me but now I am unable to do that. I moan even louder than normal as a result. "That's right princess let me hear you." His sexy encouragement causes me to get even louder. Right now it is the only reprieve I can get from his expert tongue. Just when I don't think it can get more intense, I feel his fingers enter me, pushing me even closer to the inevitable. He doesn't let up as I whimper his name pleading with him. It just drives him more as I feel his fingers move with expert persistence pushing me to the edge. With a final nip at my clit, I am sent spiraling over the edge and I scream his name as I fall over. As my orgasm nears the end he quickly removes his fingers and begins licking up my excitement while his thumb applies pressure to my oversensitive clit, sending another round of shock waves through me.

Fuck that was intense. He doesn't let me rest long. Before I know it, he is naked, positioned between my legs and he thrust into me hard. "Fuck." He grunts. "That was for you princess." He moves slowly out of me until he is fully out of me causing me to whimper at the loss of contact. "And this is for me." He growls as he slams back into me again. He continues at an achingly slow pace pulling out of me and slamming back into me over and over again. His roughness a welcome feeling after tension of the last twenty-four hours. "Faster Eric." I plead with him, needing more of him. "That's right princess tell me what you want." He grips my hips tighter as he slams into me once more. "Faster...pleeease." I moan needing to reach my release before I go crazy. "That's my girl." He pauses and reaches over me grabbing the pillow folding it and sliding it under my hips lifting me higher and the next time he slams into me, he reaches even deeper in me. "Ahh!" I scream. "Let me hear you baby." He finally begins to pick up the pace continuing to hit inside me harder and harder. His grunts and moans pushing me into unknown territory and I can't hold on much longer. "Fucking. Let. Go." He grunts in between thrust as I begin to flutter around his engorged length. With one last thrust, I am sent into another world as my body gives in convulsing from head to toe. His hard thrust continue for only a moment longer as he begins his own release growling some form of my name through his gritted teeth, his spasming member pushing me back up into the clouds yet again.

By the time I am become aware of the world around me again. He has untied my hands and is massaging my wrist and arms as I lay on his chest. "You back with me yet?" He says with amusement. I tilt me head back to look in his eyes. "Hmmm." He brings my hand up and kisses my palm. "Did you enjoy that princess." Like he has to ask. "Hmmm." I feel his chuckle in his chest. "Speechless I hear. Exactly how I like you." I shake my head because frankly I can't hardly move. I lightly move my finger across his chest and he leans down kissing my forehead.

We lay in a comfortable silence and I am close to falling back into my slumber. "I called my mom while you were asleep." He says quietly. I don't trust my voice so I move my fingers across his chest again to let him know I am still listening. "You will be meeting my family on Saturday."

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 **So did you like? You get to see Eric with his family in the next chapter. Who is excite? All comments and reviews welcome. Until next time!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey everyone. I want to thank all my reviews for all their words. They are so inspirational and I am truly grateful for each one. So after starting this chapter, I went back and decided to make it from Eric's POV as it seemed more appropriate and I felt it was time to get his perspective on what is going on. It really flowed out of me quite fast and ended up being much longer than I anticipated but it wasn't long enough to make into two chapters and there was no way I was cutting any of it out. So lucky you. Enjoy!**

This story is rated M/MA for Lemons, language and situations. Not appropriate for younger readers!

Disclaimer: All divergent characters belong to Veronica Roth, all original characters are mine. V.R. characters look like those in the movie. Hope you all enjoy, reviews and thoughts are welcome.

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 **Chapter 6**

 _(Saturday, October 10th)_

 **ERIC POV**

"Eric, Relax!" She tell me for the fifth time. She must feel the tension rolling off me. It has been building all week. I told her that I am not nervous, but really I am a mess inside. I would be happy if she never had to meet my family. Well except my grandfather. He was the only one I actually wanted her to meet. I had spoke with him the week before we left camp and we had talked about getting together for lunch so he could meet her. Unfortunately, we never got the chance. It made it all the more harder for me. We should have done it sooner, I was just nervous about it. His opinion was the only one that mattered to me and now he would never know the woman that means so much to me. He would never get to see her beautiful smile or her heartfelt laugh. _Stop!_ I have to stop thinking about that shit right now, I refuse to let my family see me be weak.

I spent all week trying to relief the tension at the gym. Dani had been so great letting me deal with this in my own way. She would just sit aside watching me or sometimes she would join me. Amar has taken to her rather well. On a few occasions, the my hits to the bag were much harder and it was not because of my family. Amar seems to always be around talking to her and I do not like the cute giggles he gets out of her. She is _mine_ and he really needs to back the fuck off. I know I don't have nothing to worry about and I usually feel better when I catch her looking at me with those beautiful green loving eyes, but it still irritates me. I have to continue to reel in my irritation when it comes to men being around her. I take a deep breath trying to calm my thoughts.

She pulls my hand up off the stick shift and brings it to her cheek. I look over her and she is looking at me with those eyes again. "Relax, it is going to be ok." She says again with a smile that could knock my socks off. Christ, this woman is the greatest. A smile tugs at my lips and she turns to kiss my palm on her cheek. "I love you Eric." I can't help the smile that overtakes up on my lips. "I know princess." I slide my hand back to her neck pulling her over to me so I can kiss her forehead. I know I don't tell her 'I love her' as much as I should but she doesn't seem bothered by it. I really do love her, it just isn't a phrase I am too familiar with and saying it is still rather difficult. In fact that is one thing I love about her. She is not one of those insecure women that need to hear it all the time. Nothing about her is traditional for that matter.

Most women would have been out the door in a minute after what I did to her last week. She proved again how much I don't deserve her. I completely zoned out last week when I got that phone call from my mother. I only half remember the phone call, mostly just the words 'your dad's father died' and 'myocardial infarction'. Only my parents would refer to a heart attack that way and it bothered me even more that she said _my dad's father_ , like my grandfather had no relation to me or something.

After hearing her say my grandfather had died, I kind of went on autopilot, almost like I was lost. I didn't know what to do or what to say. My chest was tight and I felt like I was going to exploded. Which I ended up doing even though I didn't realize it until I was standing in front of a broken bottle and my girl was standing there staring at me scared out of her mind. She had never seen my anger, my true anger, most people haven't and in that moment, I just wanted to die. _Fucking idiot_.

I could see in her eyes, the way she was breathing, how her whole body had gone completely still, that she was having a panic attack and it had brought me back to reality. In that instant, I had never felt so ashamed in my life. Then I saw the small trickle of blood run down her neck. I had hurt her, the only girl I have ever cared for, the only girl I had ever loved, and I had hurt her.

I had to leave, before she left me. I know now that my thought was as stupid as can be but in that moment, I couldn't wait for her to walk out on me. There was no way I would have been able to deal with her rejecting me in that moment, so I left her there, frozen in fear. When she whispered my name, I thought that it was it, that she was done, so I had left before she could say it. Tear stung my eyes thinking that I may never see her again.

Then I woke up in my own bed with a splitting headache and no idea what happened after I went to the bar. I know my sub conscience picked that bar because I knew the bartender and I knew Greg wouldn't cut me off like he would most people. He knew I lived down the street and that I didn't cause problems. I don't know how many glasses of whiskey he served me that night, but it must have been a whole damn bottle cause I blacked out.

At first I didn't think there was anyway she was still there until I looked over at the clock and saw a glass of water and some advil. My heart leapt up into my throat. I scrambled out of bed creeping out of the room to see if she was here and when I saw her on the floor scrubbing it like there was a invisible layer of scum over and over again, I knew she was still mad. I went back and sat on the bed taking the advil that I didn't deserve. I deserved all the pain that was pounding at me. I sat there and tried to rationalize why she hadn't left, but then it hit me, she couldn't because she didn't have anywhere to go. She had no one here and she had no way to get back to Chicago since she had spent a good part of her check the day before.

I went into my bathroom to clean up before I had to talk to her. I knew I was only delaying the inevitable but I had to give myself a minute to gather my thoughts. I had looked in the mirror and noticed nice bruise on my face and for a moment wondered if it was from her. Then I removed my shirt and saw the rest of my bruises. Most people are not stupid enough to mess with me, even when I am drunk. I must have been plastered. As I went to remove the contents of my pockets I realized my wallet was not in my pants and after looking back next to the bed, I was pretty sure I knew where I had gotten the bruises. Somebody jumped me and took my wallet, _fucking dumbass_!

I prepared myself as I showered and dressed. I needed to be strong for her and not let her feel bad for leaving, I didn't deserve her and she deserved to be happy. It was the least I could do for her. I went out to the living room spotting her in the kitchen cooking, I couldn't help but stand there and stare at the woman who had turn my life upside down. Looking back, I think I did it so I could memorize what I thought would be the last time I would see her in such a normal setting in my kitchen. I was so sure she wouldn't stay, I still can't believe she stayed.

When she said she didn't want to leave and she let me hold her again, it took everything in me not to cry like a little baby. In that minute, I didn't want to be weak in front of her, it was bad enough I couldn't keep the sadness out of my voice as I told her what was going on. As always she tried to hide her own feelings to make me feel better, but it only made me feel worse because I knew the truth. I vowed to myself that morning that I would never do anything to ever hurt her ever again, nor would I let anyone hurt her. I also decided that I would let her in even more. I think on the inside I was afraid to show her all of me, which is why I always avoided talking about my past. I am not sure I can ever really show her but I want to try.

That is exactly what I did that evening. Not only did I need to see if she still trust me for my own sanity, but I needed to show her a bit of me. When she let me tie her up, that was the ultimate act of trust she could give me after what she went through in the past. She was amazing and seemed to enjoy the rougher side just as much as I did. I have been a little reluctant tell her about my colorful sexual past, not because I am ashamed of it, but because I am afraid that it is not something she is interested in. I know her mind, she would think she was not enough for me if she didn't like it and I don't ever want her to feel that. At this point I don't care if she doesn't like that stuff, I would be happy with just making love to her. After hearing her past, I figured she would never like to have a 'playful' sexual relationship, but after the way she responded to being tied up, I may have over thought things. I do know that I will not push too much to quick. I have to take things slow with her and I am perfectly content with that.

I am brought back from my thoughts as I pull into the parking lot for St. James Cathedral. I know the show is about to start because to my father, that is all this is. All he cares about is what other think of him and how he is perceived. I take Dani's hand and kiss the back of it, in a strange twist of events, her presence is calming to me just as she always tells me my presence is calming to her. I take a deep breath, _I can do this_.

"I should probably warn you that my parents are likely to be...unpleasant toward me when others aren't paying attention. I know you are going to want to say something, but please hold your tongue this time. For me." She gives me a look of disapproval. "I just don't want to make a scene. My grandfather would tell me right now that I need to be the bigger man and not react to their pitiful, misguided, disgusting behavior because it would make me the better person for it. OK?" She gives me a tight nod.

We get out of the car and she comes around to join me as I check out my appearance in the reflection of my window making sure my suit is straight and sitting properly. I turn sideways and Dani is staring at me with a cute little smirk on her lips. "What?" I question. "You look absolutely perfect, not to mention absolutely hot in that suit." My lips turn up as she comes and leans her front to mine and she grabs my tie as if he is straightening it. "Look, I can't even fix your tie for you because it is already perfect. Now stop obsessing with your look." Always telling me like it is.

"You know, you are looking awfully hot yourself." Her dress black is very conservative, covering her shoulders and going down to her knees, not too tight, only hugging her tight where the small belt wraps around her waist. The only pieces of jewelry she is wearing is the necklace I got her with a pair of blue tear drop earrings. Her hair is pulled half back with soft curls down her back and light makeup. Simple yet she looks absolutely beautiful, so natural. She blushes a little at the compliment. I kiss her lightly on her forehead and take her hand as we head toward the church. "Here we go." I say with a deep breath and I smile trying to stay into good spirits.

As we approach the front, there are several people standing out around. I see several familiar faces, but many I have never seen before. I am stopped by my grandfather's brother Scott. "Eric, good to see you." I smile politely at him. "Grandpa Scott." I had only got to meet him on a few occasions when I was a teenager and he was visiting. "Let me introduce my girlfriend. This is Danielle. Danielle, this is my grandfather's brother Scott." She gives a genuine beautiful smile as she shakes his hand. "Nice to meet you Sir." He laugh, "None of that Sir business. You may call me Scott. Eric, your grandfather had told me you had a girlfriend." Dani looks at me with surprise. I think I had failed to mention to her that I had talked to him. I give her an apologetic smile. "Yes, I am sure he did. You are the lucky one to get to meet her first." I pull her a little closer and give her a quick kiss on top of her head. "Well you better keep this one around, she looks like something special." I chuckle slightly, he has no idea. "I will be sure to do that. Thanks grandpa Scott. I better go find my parents. I will catch up with you later." He gives us a nod and we continue into the church.

"So you talked about me with your grandfather huh?" She smirks at me. "I had talk to him right before we left camp. We were planning on meeting up so he could meet you. We just didn't do it soon enough." My smile falters as the sadness breaks through. "Eric, it's ok. Be brave." She whispers. Her words send a wave of warmth through me and I tighten my hand that is around her waist, as my lips turn back up slightly.

As we approach the front, I see my mother, father and brother. They are speaking to someone I have never met and I stop behind my parents who have their backs to me. "Eric, good to see you again brother." My brother steps around and he gives me a pat on my shoulder. "Greg, good to see you again." My parents turn around and my mother's eyes automatically dart to the woman at my side, looking over her critically. _Great._ I step in to give her a kiss on the cheek because that is what she would expect me to be a perfect gentlemen. As always she is dress in an expensive, flashy dress with enough jewelry to feed a small village. Completely opposite of Dani. "What took you so long to get here?" She chides as if I am ten years old again. As I pull back she reaches over to pick off a none existent piece of lint off my jacket before brushing over my shoulder as if to wipe it clean. _Never good enough._ I ignore her and turn to my father, reaching out my hand. "Father." He is completely composed as reaches out to shake my hand, "Son." He looks expectantly at Dani and I all the sudden want to take her away from here. I really don't want her anywhere near him, but I have to do this for my grandfather and I will not let him intimidate me.

"If I may introduce my girlfriend. This is Danielle. Danielle, this is my mother Mary, my father Carson, and my brother Greg." She shakes my mother's and father's hands as they plaster their fake smiles on their faces. My brother takes her hand and kisses the back of it with a huge grin on his face. "Very nice to meet you. Brother, I have to admit, I think you have finally out done me." I can't help my smile as my brothers words sink in. Dani looks at me with a blush and for just a moment all in the world is great. That is until my mother speaks up. "Greg, you are just too kind. Eric, this is my good college, Renee. I was just explaining to her that Greg is working on his doctorate at Harvard University. He has already had two of his research studies published. We couldn't be more proud of him." My mother gushes, effectively taking all the attention off me and putting it on my brother. _How typical_.

I look over to my brother and he gives me an apologetic smile. He really has never been mean to me per se but he has always loved getting all the attention and is often full of himself making him come off as a jerk. Just as my mother is about to continue exploiting her favorite son's accomplishments, the priest comes over and lets us know the service is going to start and we take our seats in the front. My brother sits between my parents, his normal place. I am sure to sit on the end next to my mother and put move Dani on the other side of me so I am effectively shielding her from my family.

"You should have told us you were bringing your girlfriend. I am sure Renee is thinking it has been a long time since we seen you as we are just now meeting your girlfriend." My mother hisses quietly in my ear, again scolding me like a child. I want so much to tell her 'Well it is true', but I hold my tongue and I feel Dani squeeze my hand. I look to her and she gives me a reassuring smile that I return and then wrap my arm around her back. I can feel my mother glaring at me because I know how she feels about public displays of affection, but I really don't care. I look forward as the service begins.

The service is beautiful other than when my father gets up and speaks. He is sure to mention the strong line of male descendants but looks only to my brother when he speaks the words. It seems like no time at all until it is over and thankfully we are instantly surrounded by others as we step forward to in a waiting position along with my grandpa Scott. I stay a bit in the background with my arm tightly around Dani as people come forward to give their condolences.

As soon as everyone has come forward my mother turns to me. "You will be taking the limo back with us," She demands. I really hate when she talks to me like that. "Mother, I have my car." I try to say strongly but it comes out more as a defeated tone. "It is bad enough you did not arrive in the Limo with your father, brother and I. What do you think everyone is thinking? " Honestly I don't care what they think and I want my car so I don't have to stay long. I internally roll my eyes, knowing there is no way out of this without a fight. "Yes, mother." I say letting my irritation seep through.

"Baby, if you like, I could follow in your car. I know you wouldn't want to leave it here." Dani says sweetly with a smile on her face as she looks from my mother to me. I see my mother trying to keep her irritation hidden. "That would be wonderful babe." I say trying to hide the grin on my face and take her hand to walk toward the door before my other can object. I really love that she just defied my mother without causing a scene. Definitely a win for our side.

"I will meet you at the car mother." I say over my shoulder and she huffs and as we continue walking. "Hurry Eric, we don't want to keep our guest waiting." She say smugly heading for the limo and I know Dani just pissed her off, but really I don't care. "Give me your phone." I say and Dani fishes it out of her purse. I pull up the google maps to put in the address. "So now I understand what you are talking about. I really hope you didn't mind that I offered to take your car for you." She says quietly. "No, thank you for that. I do not want to leave it here nor do I want to stay long at their house."

I look into her eyes and her smile cheers me up a bit. "Good, because her little comments are really starting to irritate the crap out of me." I chuckle knowing exactly what she means. I just grew up learning to ignore them. "Eric?" My mother calls with to sweet of a tone. "Coming mother." I call back really not wanting to leave my girl. "When you get there just pull through the gate, there will be valets to park the car and I will stay close to the door. We won't stay long I promise." I lean in giving her a kiss on the cheek as I hand her the keys and then turn toward the waiting limo.

I take a deep breath before getting in and moving to the side seat across from my brother. "Driver, we are ready." My father says with a stuck up authority. I notice it isn't his normal driver. "Where is Keith?" I ask out of curiosity but my father just looks irritated. "He was late picking me up a few months ago. Some B.S. about traffic. I had to fire him." _Seriously._ He has been their driver for like five years and he just fired him because he was late once. _That is so my asshole father for ya._ I don't bother expressing my disgust.

"So Eric, where did you meet your girlfriend?" My brother ask and my mother sits up a little straighter. "At Dauntless." I say ignoring my mothers irritated face. She never did like any attention on me. "So she works at that place you call a job." I look toward my father disgusted tone as my irritation grows. "Yes, father. She works there." It is technically true and I really don't want to have to deal with the repercussions of telling them that she was a cadet. My father grunts and looks back toward the window.

"She is extremely smart. She is actually on a fast track program to get her teaching degree in just a year." It comes out before I really think about it, but I feel like I need to defend her from his accusing tone. "A teacher?" My mothers discussed voice comes through as she rolls her eyes and my irritation grows even more. I need to get off this subject before I blow up on her. "So brother, tell me about this research you had published." I say quickly and he immediately smiles and begins to go into a very animated explanation of his research, but I don't hear one word of it.

Thankfully we pull up to the house as he is finishing. I feel suffocated in here. "Eric, I expect nothing less than your best behavior. People need to see that you were raised with the up most respect and dignity." She tells me before exiting and I roll my eyes knowing she can't see me. I exit the car and straighten my suit hoping Dani isn't too far off. I feel bad for making her drive her by herself but I am grateful she didn't have to ride with us. I know her, she will only be able to hold her tongue for so long.

I step inside the house I grew up in. It has been years since I have been here. It is big and immaculate, the entry way open, dominated by two grand staircases leading to the second level. There is wait staff everywhere serving the guest that have begun to arrive. Most guest make their way to large sitting room or straight out to the elaborate patio in front of me where I am sure there is a huge set up as I can already hear light music playing in the background. I move in just a little so others can come in but not to far that I won't see Dani when she arrives.

"Eric my boy. There you are." Grandpa Scott says patting me on the back. I give him a smile knowing he actually loved my grandfather. I have no doubts my father only put on all of this to appear that he was the good son. To him appearances are the only thing that matter, and it hasn't been lost on me that I didn't see my uncle Davy wasn't at the service. He is my father's younger brother and only sibling. I have only met him two or three times and each time it ended with my father and him arguing about how he was such a disappointment to the family.

"I am really happy for you Eric." Grandpa Scott tells me and I look to him confused. "Why?" He chuckles. "You have seemed to find yourself a lovely lady. Don't let my nephew spit that bull that love is for the weak. Your father is a bitter man that will never understand what true love can do to a person. I have never seen you so happy son, and the way you two look at each other, it reminds me of when your grandma Tess was alive. Your grandpa loved her so much and it killed him when she passed away.

It was hard on your pops too. Losing your mother to cancer when you are only six can take its toll. Especially her, she was one of a kind I tell you." I remember a few times my grandfather talked about her. The longing in his eyes and the sadness. I never pushed the subject but I had not doubt he loved her even all these years later. "You know he never even looked at another woman after she passed. A love like that only comes by once in a life time. Remember that boy. If she is the one, you keep her close and treat her right, you hear." He looks at me with intense eyes and right now he reminds me so much of my grandfather, almost as if he was the one giving me the words of wisdom I was so use to. "Yes, Grandpa Scott. I will do that. I promise."

I am actually starting to get a little anxious that she is not here yet. "So how is business?" I ask trying to distract myself. "Its going great. We have grown to the fourth largest database company in Chicago." A smile grows across my face as I see Dani come through the front door and I nod at her to join us. She comes over and my arm automatically goes around her waist pulling her in tightly to my side as I kiss her temple. "Any problems getting here?"

"Nope, just traffic." She laughs. "Grandpa Scott, I don't think I have mentioned that Dani is actually from Chicago." She looks at me confused. "Grandpa Scott lives in Chicago where he has a very successful database company." I explain to her. "No you didn't mention that. Maybe you guys could stop by and have lunch if you visit. I would love to show you guys around the company." He looks to Dani, "We would love to." She chimes in on queue not missing a beat and I smile at her. I don't know Grandpa Scott real well but he seems to be a lot like my grandfather.

"Eric." My brother comes up behind me. "Sorry to interrupt Grandpa Scott but mother is requesting your presence Eric." He huffs. "Better run along Eric, you know how your mother is." I hear a giggle escape from Dani at his sarcasm. At least she thinks it is amusing. "It was nice to have met you." He says to Dani and gives her a quick kiss on the cheek before whispering something to her in which she nods back at him. I will have to remember to ask her what he said. I nod to him and he returns the gesture as we turn to follow my brother outside.

"Here he is. Eric you remember Jeanine." Great, not what I feel like dealing with. "Ms. Matthews, good to see you again. May I introduce my girlfriend Danielle." They shake hands. "This is Ms. Matthews. She is the head of Erudite Research Facility where my father is a lead research scientist and my mother works as well." I can't but notice my mother's expression. Anymore proud and she would be bursting at the seams.

"My, my Eric. Your mother hadn't mentioned you had a girlfriend." She says to me and I see the anger in my mothers eyes for being called out. "I have been away for work and just recently got back. I am sure it would have been the topic conversation had this unfortunate event happened before she had the chance to inform you." I try to placate my mother as I smile sweetly at Jeanine. "I am sure you are right." She turns back to my mother and they start taking.

Suddenly I feel Dani freeze and I turn quickly to see my brother's hand on her shoulder. "Would you like to see the rest of the grounds Danielle. I would be happy to give you a tour." I clinch my jaw trying to keep my anger at bay but I push it aside realizing she needs me. I know I need to calm her as her breaths begin to get heavier. She would be really upset with herself if she freaked out here. I run my thumb nail discretely up and down her side going a little lower than appropriate and she glances at me. I give her a smile and I feel her relax slightly. "Actually I really need to use the restroom." She says quietly as if she is shy but I know she is starting to panic since my brother's hand still hasn't moved from her shoulder.

"I'll show you." I say before he can. I shrugging at my brother as if telling him that it was nothing and I pull her back into the house to the guest bathroom. Once we are in locked in the bathroom she wraps her arms around me and rest her forehead against my shoulder. "Sorry, sorry. It's just..." Her breaths now coming out hard as I wrap my arms around her. "Stop! It is fine. You are fine. Just breath through it." I feel her take several deep breaths as I rub my hands up and down her back. After a few minutes she pulls back. "Better?" I ask looking into her eyes and I can see the relief in them. "Yes, much better. I am so sorry babe." I roll my eyes at her. "I said stop. You did rather well. I mean, you didn't punch him." I laugh at the thought of seeing my mother's face seeing Dani layout her favorite son. My laugh deepens and she looks at me confused. I shake her head, "Never mind."

Someone knocks on the door starling us both. "Eric man, you better get out here." Great, my damn brother, just who I want to see right now. "Ready?" I look down at her and she looks ok. "Yes." I put my arm back around her and we exit the restroom, making sure I stay in between her and my brother. "Mom saw you two both go in there and she is mad." Since when does he warn me. "Also grandpa's lawyer is here. Mom insist we go to dad study immediately." He hesitates for a moment looking between Dani and I. "What?" I say forcefully to him getting tired of this charade I am putting on for everyone. "She requested just you and I." I look at him with a raised eyebrow. "Well Dani is not leaving my side so let me deal with mom, and what lawyer?" He doesn't answer me, just turns and starts walking, so I follow, pulling Dani along, but I feel her hesitation. I squeeze her side and it seems to give her a little more confidence.

We go into the study and my mother and father are already in there with a man I have never seen. "Eric, finally. It is very rude to keep people waiting. We are all here, you may continue she says to the gentlemen. He stands in front of us with a piece of paper. "This will not take up to much of your time." I am confused about what is going on, but I know better than to interrupt. "I am first to give the grandchildren these letters." He hands a letter to both my brother and I. "He requested that you read them in your own time. As for the matter of his estate. As you know, he had a successful auto parts store chain for many years that he built from the ground up. What you may not know is that it had begun to go down hill during the recession and he was barely able to hold onto it. He had chosen to sell it off before it completely collapsed so that he would be able to live out his retirement comfortably. After settling all debts, including the loan on his home on Lake Stevens, it left a small amount of money." Here, they choose to have the will read here. How fucking tackless can they be?

"The money is to be distributed as follows: Greg will receive fifty thousand. Eric, you will receive twenty-five thousand." I see a smirk appear on my father's face. "He would like you to know that he is only leaving you less because he had put down the twenty-five thousand down on your condo for your twenty-first birthday and he wants to be fair to you and your brother."

"He did what?" My mother and father say in unison and I have to hide the smile threatening my lips. "Why would you ask him for money? Do you not have any pride?" _Asshole_. I look down from my father's face seeing the shame in his eyes. "I didn't ask for it. He offered it, I never said anything." I say quietly trying not to lose my respectful tone but my lips press into a straight line. "Sir if I may continue." My father must nod because he doesn't say any more.

"In addition, he is leaving fifty thousand to his brother Scott to pay back the start up loan that got his business going, plus interest. Finally he is leaving the home on Lake Stevens and the remaining amount of seventy thousand to his youngest son Davy. "And what about me?" My father almost yells. "For you sir I have a message. He would like you to know that 'Greed should never replace love'." I see my father's anger rising. "What about all my expenses, do you know how much this cost? And what the hell kind of message is that? And leaving my pathetic brother the house and money. He never did anything good with his life besides work a lousy nine to five factory job all his life because he never chose to be a better person. None of this makes any sense, my father's business was worth millions at one point, are you really going to tell me it is all gone?" He doesn't give the lawyer time to answer. "This is not the end of it, you will be hearing from my lawyer."

"Sir, I was warned this would happen and I guarantee this was planned for. The facts are as stated and all information has been carefully documented and reviewed by several independent parties in case you choose to dispute this, but if you want to continue this pointless pursuit, be my guest. Here is my card, have your lawyer contact me anytime. Boys here is my card, if you have any questions please feel free to contact me and someone from my office will be getting a hold of you to transfer your inheritance. Good day." He leaves and I see my father boiling in rage.

 _Great_ , here we go. "This is bullshit. There is no way that money is gone." Actually it is, grandfather told me last year when he told me he wanted to put the down payment on my condo, but I keep quiet. "And you boy. What the hell is this down payment? Taking advantage of an old man to get something you don't deserve. You are a class 'A' screw up, while your brother has worked his tail off. How could he ever see you two as being equal." My anger, irritation and hurt all rise at the same time. My fist clench and I feel Dani's hand on my chest allowing me to momentarily gain control again. I see my brother's eyes on the floor as if he disagrees but he stays quiet, like always.

"You just stroll in here like you are just as perfect as he is." He continues but he is interrupted. "He is!" I turn my face and look at Dani who is staring at my father. I have never seen anyone stand up to my father. As much as I hate to admit it, my skill of intimidation is one thing I learned from him. I look up to see my whole family stare at her incredulous. "Who do you think you are missy?" My mother pipes in. "You have no right to say one word here. This is our family and just because you give it up to my son in a dirty bathroom doesn't mean you have any control over him. Oh, don't think I didn't see you two go in there. Eric this is your grandfather's service and you have the audacity to come in here and lower yourself to the level of this two bit whore." Dani's hand fist at my chest, "Fucking Bitch." Dani says and I grab her hand and placing my finger over her mouth before she does or says anything else. I am done listening to this shit and I will not stand by and let my family hurt the one person that means something to me.

"Eric, did you just hear what she called me." My mother says astonished thinking I stopped Dani for her, boy is she wrong. I am merely trying to avoid what I sure would become a scene and my grandfather deserved more than my parents petty behavior. "Son, you will not stand here and allow that kind of disrespect in my house. Your girlfriend will apologize NOW." My father demands. I see her trying to bring down her anger. I grab her wrist pulling her behind me, making me feel like a shield to her. "You know what father, if the money means that much to you, take it. I will have grandfather's lawyer forward the twenty-five thousand to you to cover all your expenses today. This is what grandfather meant about greed. You are more worried about your precious money than the memory of your own father." I say as calmly as I can but my voice slowly gets louder. He completely ignores the last half of my rant. "It is about time you did something decent in your life. The least you could do is to pay for all this. Now you will make her apologize to your mother." I feel her humph behind me and I agree. "I will do no such thing." I damn near yell at him as my control brakes. I will not stand here and let him treat Dani the way he treats me. "How dare you use that tone with me you ungrateful little shit. After everything your mother and I have done for you." His eyes cold on mine making them look to the floor under his threatening gaze. "You will do what I say and you will do it NOW. Do not make me repeat myself." He demands again. _Dammit Eric, stand up to him!_ I scream at myself as I take in a deep breath.

"I will not apologize so speaking the truth. Eric, lets go." Dani says as she steps up beside me. Always so strong, I muse for just a second before I see my father turn red. "Who the hell do you think you are. This is my home and you will not disrespect my wife that way. Now you show some fucking respect." He seethes and she laughs at him. Like actually laughs and I am shocked speechless as I look down at her. "Respect is given where respect is due and from where I am standing, the only one in this room who has my respect is Eric." I begin to grin but my attention quickly turns to my father as he takes a step toward her. "You little..." I quickly move between them out of pure reaction. "If you finish that sentence, I swear I will lay you out right here." All my hatred and pain and sorrow all laid out in that one sentence

His anger turns to pure shock. "How dare you?" _I am done with this shit._ My voices turns low and cold as all my emotions drive my words. "No how dare you. You call yourself a father. You are nothing but a money hungry, sad little man. That beautiful woman behind me is the best thing that has ever happened to me in my crappy, miserable life. She showed me what it was to live, to be cared for, to be loved and she did it all wanting nothing in return. She is everything to me that my own father and mother never were and I will be damned if let you ever hurt her. She is the only person in this world that matters to me now." I am so mad right now that my hands are shaking.

"You leave here and don't ever come back." My father says quietly and for the first time in my life I think I actually see fear in his eyes. "Gladly," His eyes turning quickly back to anger as quickly as I could spit out the single word. "Babe, I think it think we have stayed long enough." I feel her hand on my back and I feel warmth spread through my body. I turn and grab her by the waist, leading her out of the house. As soon as we get in the car, I take a deep cleansing breath and I feel like a weight has lifted off my shoulders. I look to Dani with a smile but her eyes are on her hands clasp in her lap, almost looking guilty.

"Hey, don't you dare." I say softly as all my anger is gone. She looks up at me and I see it in her eyes. "Don't you even think about fucking apologizing. None of this is your fault, in fact this would have happened sooner or later. Thanks to you, it happened sooner and saved me a lot of irritation and heartache." I take her face in both of my hands. "I love you Danielle. You are the only person that matters to me now." I kiss her as passionately as I can hoping she understands how much she means to me. When we break apart we are both breathless as we rest our foreheads together. "I love you too Eric. Always!"

 _Always?_ I swear my heart is going to explode. "Always."

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 **What did you think? I feel better getting Eric's side out there. So this schedule thing to post Mondays and Thursdays isn't working to well. Some days I can write a whole chapter in a few hours and sometimes it takes days. So how about I promise to just post at least twice a week for now and if there is more, so be it. I am also trying to go back and correct my grammar mistakes in both books which is taking up a little time. Let me know who you feel about this chapter, I am interested in hearing it as always. Until next time.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys, sorry about the delay. I know I said I would post two chapters a week but I got a little behind because I was conflicted with how to proceed with this. I have always just wrote off a list of ideas of what I want to happen and add them in where I want but I am not sure which order I want my next ideas to come in, but I am figuring it out slowly. For now, Enjoy and hopefully I will have another one in a few days!**

This story is rated M/MA for Lemons, language and situations. Not appropriate for younger readers!

All divergent characters belong to Veronica Roth, all original characters are mine. V.R. characters look like those in the movie. Hope you all enjoy, reviews and thoughts are welcome.

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 **Chapter 7**

 _(Friday, October 23rd)_

I am so irritated right now. I talked this through with Eric several times now and I just can't understand why he still insist on giving his money-hungry father his inheritance. He deserves to take that money and it really isn't that much. I tried to get a decent answer out of Eric but he just keeps telling me that, 'It isn't worth the fight' or 'Its not a big deal'. To me it isn't about the money, it's the fact that he is giving into his father's selfishness and giving the asshole something he doesn't deserve. After the way he treated Eric, I am just so flabbergasted that he would give anything to that man.

Our ride home after the funeral was very quiet. It was clear that Eric was pissed off and frustrated, but he didn't want to talk. He had almost completely shut down on me again. For a little while, I had thought it was something I had done since I had acted quite rudely. But like always, he seemed to hone in on my thoughts and out of the blue, he broke the silence telling me that he was in no way upset with me or my actions and that he was extremely proud of me for standing up to his father. That was the only thing he had said the entire car ride home and most of the evening.

When we had gotten home, he sat down on the couch to do something on his laptop and I made an early dinner in silence. The only thing he had said was during dinner when he complimented my cooking. It was started to irritate the crap out of me as we both cleaned up the dinner until he suggested that we sit and read. We curled up on the couch together reading our books and all of my irritation melted away as he held me tight to his side. I noticed that reading is one of his outs when things are bothering him. I have to admit it is very comforting to me as well since I get lost in my book, forgetting all of the things bothering me.

As night fell, he relaxed and was seemingly in a much better mood, so I had chanced trying to get him to talk but again it didn't work. The smile that he gave me when I asked was so disarming. It took him about ten seconds to totally make me forget about what I had asked him, as he began kissing me. It started out very soft and sweet but it quickly turned into something much more rough and lust filled. I have no doubt that he worked out his 'frustration' that night as he fucked me very roughly, in several different positions, until we both literally fell asleep from exhaustion. Not that I would complain, as it was completely mind-blowing and was just as much to my benefit, but it also didn't get past me that I still hadn't got an answer out of him.

After that I hadn't brought it up again and we went back to our normal everyday routine, almost as if the funeral never happened. I started taking my online classes and scheduled to do some of my test which I have been studying for but other than that things are the same. During the week we would spend quite a bit of time at Amar's gym and eating out most nights. Sometimes we talk about various things, usually revolving around my life, and sometimes we just enjoy each other's company in a comfortable silence.

I have taken a liking to walking down at the Marina and the adjacent park at sunset when the weather is nice. Eric always joins me for my evening walks saying that he didn't want me to walk around alone when it is dark which I am grateful for, just because I love walking hand in hand with him and not because I don't think I can take care of myself. One evening he insisted I needed a break from studying and we needed a date night so we went to the Southcenter Mall to watch _Crimson Peak_ at the cinema there and then ate at this cute restaurant in the mall called the Rain Forest Cafe. I had a great time and for a few hours we were able to break our normal routine, which felt great.

Sometimes I feel like we have been a couple for years. Everything we do seems so repetitive already. Every once and a while, Eric will suggest we go somewhere we have never gone, but for the most part it is mostly the same with the exception of our sex life. That has been in no way repetitive as he continues to surprises me with his substantial knowledge of sexual positions. When he had told me he knew a different position for every day of the year, he was telling the truth. I still have a hard time talking about anything sexual but he seems to be able to get information out of me to find out what things I like more than others. Sometimes I feel like he is holding back something when we get on that subject but I am not sure. He has admitted that his sex life in the past was 'very diverse' but he has hardly expanded on what that actually means. I don't dwell on it too much because I am sure I will find out in time.

Everything was fine until Eric received a phone call from his grandfather's lawyer's office yesterday requesting he come in to sign off on the papers. It seemed to bring back his irritation along with his silence. Since it was back in the open, I again tried to get some kind of reasoning out of him but it is useless. Eric can be so hard headed it is irritating. I wish we would just talk to me about it.

I look out of the window of the conference room we are sitting in as the lawyer explains things to Eric. We are on the fiftieth story of the Safeco Plaza in downtown Seattle and the view is amazing. Eric squeezes my hand bringing my attention back to the lawyer but honestly I haven't been listening much. "Eric are you sure about this. Your grandfather was very adamant this money go to you and not your father? I need to know this is of your will and that you are not being pressured into this." The lawyer says skeptically. Now I understand why he brought my attention back. It was the same question I had been asking him. "I am not being pressured into this. I want to do this for my grandfather and for myself. This is the one thing I could do for him." Eric says confidently. The lawyer shakes his head and has him sign the last paper and then sign the check over to his father which the lawyer will have sent over to him.

"Do you mind if I write a short note to be delivered with the check?" Eric ask the lawyer and he nods pulling out a nice piece of paper with a fancy letterhead. Eric leans forward and writes something quickly in his perfect penmanship but he does it quickly before I can read what it says. I am not sure if he wants me to know so I don't question him. Maybe when we are in private. He folds it once and hands it back to the lawyer. "Alright Sir, I think that will just about cover it. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me anytime." He hands Eric his card and then escorts us back to the elevator. We all shake hands and say our goodbyes.

As we get into the elevator Eric visibly relaxes. "Feel better?" I question and he looks down at me. "Surprisingly yes." He wraps his arms around me. "You feel up for going out tonight? Nothing special, just drinks with Paulo and his cousin." He must be feeling better. I haven't seen him this relaxed since before he got that dreaded call from his mother. "Sure, I would love to."

"So how exactly are you getting me into a bar?" Eric's lips turn up. "It isn't just a bar. We are going to The Swiss restaurant and pub. It is all ages and at night they have live bands." Eric pulls along the curb and parks the car but I don't see where the restaurant is. We get out and Eric joins me on the sidewalk taking my hand. We walk around the corner and go down a very steep hill. I look at him curiously but he just tugs on my hand and keep walking. As we get to the bottom of the block I see a large 'W' statue across the street. I look to Eric again and then look at the statue with question in my eyes. "That is the University of Washington Tacoma campus." He explains with a little humor like he already knows what I am going to say. "So you are taking me to a college to drink?" I say with a laugh, but he only smirks at me and turns me around to the right and I see a doorway half hidden by the hill we just walked down. "No, we are going in here."

The building is old and looks like one of those hole in the wall type places. He gives me his cute little half smile and we go in. Once we are in I am surprised at how big it inside. The second floor has been knocked out inside creating high ceilings and there is a spacious room with a bunch of tables that sit in front of the bar with muffled music playing. I don't see Paulo anywhere and he had text Eric that he and Marlene were already here. Eric tugs my hand again and I follow him as we go to the back corner of the bar where the muffled music gets louder. We go through a doorway and it opens up into another large room with a live band playing on a stage and a bunch more tables. We continue to walk and go through an archway to yet another large room where there are a bunch of pool tables. This place is crazy big. you would never have guessed it from the outside. I spot Marlene and Paulo at the back pool table with a few people I have never seen.

"Hey Dani, good to see you!" Marlene says as she gives me a quick hug and kiss on the cheek. I turn to Paulo and he engulfs me in a bear hug which is over before I really have time to react but I stiffen a little at the sudden contact. Eric's hand shoots out and hits Paulo hard in the arm in which I see two men over by the pool table immediately jump up and come over to us. Wow, we have been here two minutes and we are already going to have trouble. "I told you before, keep your hands off my woman." Paulo laughs loudly over the music and he claps Eric on the shoulder hard in which his two companions slow there decent on us. "Relax Eric, we are here to have fun." He turns to me. "Good to see you sis, how is life treating you on the outside?"

"It's good." I tell him with a smile. His two companions join us and he introduces us to his cousins Kalo and Poe. Although they are brothers they look quite a bit different. Both are tall but Kalo is skinny and Poe is very husky, almost overly muscular looking. We all go back over to the pool table where they were playing. Paulo excuses himself saying he will be back. "So Dani, how have you been? How are things with Eric?" Marlene ask, speaking loudly next to my ear so I can hear over the music. "I am good, happy and Eric is Eric, but I wouldn't want him any other way." She smiles and shakes her head. "Honestly I never thought someone would be able to tame that wild boy, but I am sure glad you did. He is a lot nicer with you around." I laugh and Eric glances at me curiously. He must not be able to hear her over the loud music.

Paulo comes back with a tray of shots and drinks on it. "Alright party people, shots up." He picks up a shot and tries to hand it to me. I look to Eric trying to figure out which one of us is going to be driving home. "You can go ahead and drink, I will drive home." I tell him. It is only fair since he drove home on our first date. "Oh no you don't, we can call a cab if I drink to much." He tells me grabbing the shot from Paulo and gives it to me as Paulo hands out the rest of the shots. "Here's to a good time tonight!" Paulo bellows out and we all raise our shots and then drink them down.

I can't keep the grin off my face as Eric discretely runs his thumb along the inside of my thigh where his hand is resting as he waits to take his shot. I am pretty buzzed and the room we are in has become much more packed in the last few hours. Eric hasn't been overbearing at showing that I am not available which has surprised me just a little, but if someone were to watch him, they would see. He has made it a point to be touching me in some little way all night when he is not playing pool. Most the time it is standing next to me touching his arm to mine, but sometimes he will covertly run his fingers across my lower back while standing behind me or touch my legs in some way like he is doing now. I am definitely not complaining since I am oddly enjoying it. I am starting to believe this is his game, driving me crazy by slowly teasing me. Seeing how long it will take me before I break and just attack him which is definitely on my agenda the minute we are back home.

He gives me his signature smirk as he removes his hand and walks over to the pool table. That look alone, hits me hard between my legs. He looks so fucking sexy in his designer jeans and button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He hasn't shaved in a few days and you can clearly see the facial hair on his face now and it suits him well. I watch as he bends over the pool table, gripping the pool stick causing his muscles in his arms to flex and his shirt to tighten around his back and shoulders. I cross my legs on the high bar stool I am sitting on trying to ease the ache that has been slowly building.

After two successful shots he misses and comes back over to stand with me but he comes and stands in front of me picking up his beer off the table that I am leaning on as Marlene and I talk and watch the guys play. He has done this a couple of times and seems a bit irritated each time he does it. "I swear if that guy doesn't stop staring at you he is going to meet my fist." I look up at him with a smirk. _Now I get it_. "Hey charming, my eyes are only on you, so cool down there handsome." He looks over at me and gives me a quick smile, his irritation taking a back burner.

"Well, well, well. Look who it is." Eric turns around to the high shrieked voice coming from behind him. A pretty, skinny, tall brunette stands there with a huge smile on her face. "It has been far too long." She says as she steps closer to him. "And looking as hot as ever!" She places her hand on his chest and my irritation goes from zero to a hundred in a millisecond and by the way bites on the inside of his cheek, he noticed my change in mood. "Uh, hi Jen. Good to see you." He takes a step back but can't move too much because our table is right behind him so her fingers are still on his chest. "I didn't know you were back in town. I haven't heard from you." She runs her fingers down his chest and I am two seconds from getting up and knocking her on her ass.

Eric steps sideways so he is on the other side of me and puts his hand on my legs successfully holding me down. _That bitch better keep her hands off him._ "Hey, Jen, I want you to meet my girlfriend Danielle." She looks at me with a raised eyebrow and shocked on her face. "Really...you have a girlfriend? That's a first." I hold in the urge to smack her and put out my hand. "Nice to meet you." My voice is dripping with sarcasm. "Likewise." She tells me as she shakes my hand but her tone says different. "Well I have to get back to my friends. Call me sometime Eric." She tells him with flirtatious eyes and I swear if Eric wasn't effectively holding me down that bitch wouldn't be smiling right now. "Yeah, that's not going to happen." She looks back at me with an irritated look on her face and then she walks away.

I look back to Eric and he has that smirk on his face again. "Jealous much?" I just roll my eyes at him. He leans over and kisses me lightly on the neck. "Don't worry princess, my eyes are only on you." He says in my ear before pulling back and giving me a quick kiss on the lips as taps his finger on the underside of my chin. That is the most contact we have had all night and my bad mood is long forgotten. "Better." He questions as my smile returns. "Much!"

Paulo calls him over to take his shot. "Does that kind of shit happen a lot?" I ask Marlene. She purses her lips. "Don't think like that Dani. He has a past, you are his present and his future, and he is hell bent on keeping it that way. I mean he hasn't taken his eyes off you since you guys got here. You have changed him you know. It is just the little things." I look at her curiously. "You know like the way he isn't so tense all the time and that half smirk, half smile that is permanently etched on his face these days." I look over to him and I see the smirk she is talking about as he jokes around with Paulo. She is right, I need to stop letting these women get to me. He catches me staring at him and he give me a wink.

He lifts his bottle in question wanting to know if I need another drink and I nod yes since my glass is empty. He says something to Paulo and then hands him his pool stick before walking out toward the bar. As soon as he rounds the corner Paulo turns back toward me. "Ok, sis. You took my partner away so now you have to stand in for him now." I am more than happy to, so I hop down from my stool and go over taking the pool stick from him. I wait for his cousin to take his shot. He misses the shot. He must be getting pretty drunk because that is the first time I seen him not sink at least one ball during his turn. "Your up." Paulo tells me nudging my arm.

I look around the table and debate my options. We are solids so I think my best bet is the number two ball. I line up my shot. "Damn!" I hear someone behind me say loudly. I stand up and look behind me and some guy at the table next to us is staring at me licking his bottom lip. I shake my head and go back to my shot. I have to really concentrate because my head is pretty fuzzy. I shoot and make the shot. "That's what I am talking about!" Paulo shouts out. Shoving at his cousin who doesn't look as enthusiastic. I give him a shy smile and move to my next shot. Luckily, the que ball set up a perfect shot on the six ball, but I will have to make the shot behind my back. I am glad that I played a lot of pool back home at the billiards hall by my house. I concentrate on my position which has me perched on the side of the pool table with the stick threaded through my arms behind me. I shoot, sinking it like a pro and I am absolutely elated.

I send another smirk over to Paulo but he stands up straight quickly, looking intently at something just past me and I know something is wrong. "Well aren't you all kinds of talented." Someone says way to close to me. My head snaps back in front of me and the guy that was checking me out a few minutes ago is now standing so close to me that I cannot move my ass off the pool table unless I want to be standing up against him. _Great!_ "Thanks but I am taken. Might I suggest you move back." I say forcefully as this guy has just totally ruined my mood. I see Paulo start moving around the table toward me. "I don't see a ring on that pretty little hand so I would say may chances are still good." He runs his fingers down my arm and my chest starts to tighten a little. I focus on breathing through it because this guy is not going to ruin my night.

I put a hand up to stop Paulo as he reaches me. "I suggest you don't touch her without her permission." Paulo warns him and the guy looks at him like he is crazy. I have to hold back my smile. "That is your only warning." I tell him and instead of what I was hoping, which was him to get afraid so he would back off, he has excitement in his eyes. "Damn that is hot, please let me be the one that tames you." _As if buddy!_ He moves his hand down and rubs it along my leg. My fist reacts in a second as I can no longer hold back. I hit him square in his jaw but because I am perched up on the pool table it doesn't do as much damage. He merely stubbles back a few steps as his hand flies up to his jaw. In my defense he is by no means a small guy and I didn't have much leverage. I hear Paulo's cousins snickering at the guy that just got punched by a girl. "Fucking bitch!" He says as his hand not holding his jaw clenches at his side and Paulo quickly steps in front of me before the guy can do anything else. Eric is by my side in a second and Paulo quickly steps to the side so he is in front of Eric instead of me but still facing the guy in case he tries something. "I fucking warned you dumbass. She doesn't like to be touched. Now I suggest You leave before I move aside and let my buddy, _her boyfriend,_ kick your ass." The guy stands up straighter and his buddy steps up behind him.

I see Kalo and Poe both quickly step up behind Eric. This is really not how I wanted this night to go and I have to stop it now before there is an all out brawl. I jump down between the guy and Paulo putting my hand on Paulo chest. "Come on boys, he isn't worth it. There is only one guy man enough for me." I push Paulo aside so I can get to my man and I wrap my hands around his neck but he is still staring at the guy completely tense. "Hey handsome, I am right here." I tell him putting my hand on his cheek to pull his gaze back to me. "You only babe, remember." I tell him sweetly with a smile. After a minute he relaxes and leans down to kiss me very possessively as he wraps his arms around me. "Only you." He says back to me quietly and pecks me on the cheek before releasing me.

The other guy and his friend turn and walk away, going back to their table. "Now if you don't mind, I have a game to win." I tell him as I turn to walk to the end of the table swaying my hips to keep his attention on me. His smirk is back as he walks around and comes to a stop flush against by back. Leaning down he moves my hair off my shoulder and kisses me just below my ear. "Keep teasing me and we aren't making out of this bar." He threatens and then smacks me hard on the ass causing me to let out a little yelp. I turn and smack him on the chest lightly pushing him back so I can shoot but his eyes are not on me. They are looking mockingly at the guy across the room; typical Eric, rubbing it in. I roll my eyes at him before turning back to the table. "Eight ball corner pocket." I call out my last shot as I line it up am completely relieved our night wasn't ruined. I don't have to concentrate as much since the adrenaline sobered me up a bit and I have somehow gotten extremely lucky that the shot on the eight ball is not very difficult. I slide the stick forward smoothly hitting the que ball and it hits the black ball perfectly sending it into the corner pocket.

"And that boys, is how it is done." I hand my stick to Kalo and turn around wrapping my arms around the neck of my man. He gives me a quick passionate kiss before grabbing my thighs, lifting me up causing me to instinctively wrap my legs around his waist. I squeal loudly which turns into a giggle. "You really are amazing." He muses, being a bit over the top but I don't care right now. I kiss him again since he is showing no sign of setting me down and he bites my lip. I open my mouth willingly and his tongue invades my mouth exploring. "Jesus, you two get a fucking room." I pull away and give Paulo a shy smile and Eric sets me back on my bar stool, but stays standing between my legs. "Fuck off Paulo." He shouts over his shoulder before turning back to me. "And you young lady, shaking your ass at me in those tight jeans." I bite my lip as he leans forward nipping at the base of my neck. "I think it is time I get you home so I can give you your prize for winning our game." I glance over his shoulder and the guy from earlier is sitting across the room sulking as he watches us. We better get out of here before anything else happens. "Well then my prince, lets get out of here." He smirks at me. He turns to Marlene. "Make sure they don't drive drunk." He demands and she nods at him. I hop off the stool as Eric grabs my hips stirring up the ache between my legs again. "Your wish is my command, princess." He growls with clear intent in his eyes.

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 **It took me a few days to write this chapter and it didn't quite come out like I wanted it to but I don't know how else to change it so it will have to do. Let me know what you think, I am really trying to not be repetitive here. I will probably be sending them back to camp very soon to keep it moving along. All comments and reviews welcome let me know if this is getting too boring. Until next time!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey Everyone. Thank you so much to everyone that has reviewed. You guys are so awesome. Here is another chapter for you. Enjoy!**

This story is rated M/MA for Lemons, language and situations. Not appropriate for younger readers!

Disclaimer: All divergent characters belong to Veronica Roth, all original characters are mine. V.R. characters look like those in the movie. Hope you all enjoy, reviews and thoughts are welcome.

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 **Chapter 8**

 _(Friday, November 6th)_

 _What the hell was I thinking._ I park the car at the testing center to take my second CLEP test this week. I have eighteen of these test that I have to take over the next few month, but Max wanted me to do as many as possible before the next camp session since I will have to take classes and intern for Tris while I am there. When he called me and told me he had scheduled me to do two test a week for three weeks in a row I thought he was crazy. Of course he just huffed at me, telling me he knew I could do it and to just do my best. I took my first two test last week which were pretty easy since they were Math and Science but the test this week were for History and American Lit, so had to study harder. I moan to myself just thinking that I still have two more test next week.

My life has turned into an endless day of studying. In addition to all the test, I am taking six classes online for the fall quarter instead of the normal four. To make matters worse, I started a week late so I had to play catch up. The last few weeks has been nothing but school work and studying. Max and Eric have total confidence in me but it has only been a few weeks and my brain is already exhausted.

I didn't let Eric come with me this time. I could tell he didn't enjoy sitting in the lounge while I took my last few test, so I told him that now that I knew where the place was, I could go on my own. He was really hesitant to let me go by myself at first but I explained to him he needs to let me have a little room. I love him but we have been together damn near twenty-four seven since we got home. Other than the night he freaked out, the only time he has left me alone was few times he went to the gym without me and each time, it was a heated conversation to get him to go. He didn't need to stay home just because I needed to study. I have always been a pretty independent woman and I don't want to make it seem like I can't do things when he isn't around. It took a while but he finally agreed to give me a little room. Besides, he needs to get use to it because when we go back to camp, we are not going to be together all the time.

My phone buzzes letting me know I have a text.

 **Eric:** You there yet?

 **Me:** Yes, I am here and your car is in one piece.

He made it a point to tell me to 'make sure I bring his car back in one piece' so I couldn't help myself.

 **Eric:** Why didn't you text me yet? IT BETTER BE!

 _Jeez!_ He sure is touchy about this car.

 **Me:** I just got here, keep your panties on.

 **Eric:** Fuck Woman, the mere thought of your panties...

 **Eric:** Is making me hard. Stop talking about panties or I just might come down there and remove those sexy black ones I saw you put on this morning.

 _Oh shit._ Even in a text he sounds sexy as hell! I squirm in my seat reading his text. How the hell does he do that to me?

 **Me:** Eric, you really need to stop talking to me like that, I am supposed to be focused.

 **Eric:** What's the matter babe, miss me already? If I was there I could help relieve that ache I know is bothering you!

 _Damn,_ I hear his voice in my head and I can't help but be extremely turned on as thought of him 'relieving my ache' start playing in my head. _STOP!_ I chastise myself. This is not the time or place, but my body is betraying me as I feel the wetness between my legs.

 **Me:** Eric, STOP IT, I need to concentrate!

 **Eric:** LOL. Sorry babe. Good luck with your test!

 _Sorry my ass!_ He did that shit on purpose.

 **Me:** Gee thanks! Love you too.

I can just see him there sitting on the couch laughing for getting me all riled up. I would bet a hundred dollars he did that to get back at me for not letting him come. _Jerk!_ I take a deep breath trying to get his voice out of my head. I still have a few minutes so I decided to turn on some Linkin Park to calm myself and clear my head. I need to be able to concentrate on this test.

 _Finally!_ I finish the test and go to the locker to retrieve my personal items that I wasn't allowed to take into the testing room. I have a couple of text from Eric. _Figures._ I open up my text.

 **Eric:** Babe, Amar needs me to fill in for a couple of classes because someone is sick. I will not be home when you get there. See U later.

There is another one a few minutes later.

 **Eric:** Text me when you're home safe.

I smile. His protective ways are so freaking cute sometimes. If he is working then I should probably make some dinner. I start the car and head for home. We haven't went grocery shopping for over a week so I am going to need to stop and pick up a few things. Eric gave me $40 before I left 'just in case', so I have enough to pick something. I think about it for a few minutes and I decided on making steak and potatoes for dinner. We still have potatoes and green salad so I really only need to get the steak.

I am extremely glad it is only one in the afternoon so traffic is still really light. The one thing I have come to dislike is the traffic here. It doesn't take no time at all to get to the grocery store near home. Once I find the steak, I decided to pick up a few other things we are out of like bread and eggs. I am happy Eric gave me some money because over the past few weeks I have slowly whittled away at the small bit of money I had. I never realize how buying a few small things here and there can really add up. Eric doesn't like letting me pay for things but I have done it here and there and I am down to only $30 in the bank. Thankfully we will be going back soon so I can start saving up some money. Although, I don't have much I can spend it on, other than clothes.

Eric has completely refused to let me pay any bills. I talked about maybe getting a car of my own but Eric said that since he has a Charger and an Armada, it really isn't necessary and that I was free to use his cars anytime. After seeing my irritation though, he did say it was up to me and if I did want to get a car, he could always put one of his in storage so I could park my car in one of the two stalls that are assigned to our condo. That made me feel a little better since his overwhelming need to control things can be a bit over bearing at times, but I can tell he is trying. In the end I pretty much decided he was right. Besides, if I get a car it is just going to sit there most of the time and then he would be paying for a storage which creates another bill for him to pay and I don't want that either since he won't let me pay for any of them. I will just save up my money and I am sure there will come a time when it comes in handy.

I get home and bring in the few bags of groceries and then text Eric before he can freak out. He doesn't answer me right away so he must be in the middle of teaching a class. I should probably get some work done while he isn't here to distract me. Something he likes to do often. I put the groceries away, put the steak in a marinade to sit for a few hours. After I finish, I grab the laptop, turn on some music and get comfortable at the dining room table.

When I look up at the clock on the wall, it's almost four-thirty. I hadn't realized I had been sitting here for so long. I stand up and stretch. My body is really stiff from sitting for the last several hours. I look out to the water and the sun is beginning to set and looks beautiful bouncing off the few clouds that are in the sky. I need to get some exercise. I didn't go to the gym today because of my test so I decide to go for a quick walk before it gets dark. I save the paper I was working on and write Eric a quick note in case he comes home letting him know where I went and that I will make dinner when I get back. I could text him but I already know what will happen and it will just end up in me being irritated. I grab my keys, debit card and my phone and head outside.

There is a nice little coffee stand up a few block so I decide to go get a Latte before walking down to the Marina Park. When I get to the stand, the barista Stacy already has my coffee ready since she can see me coming from down the block. I have always admired the way people like her can just remember what people drink all the time. Especially since I only come here once or twice a week. She must have hundreds of customers a day. I thank her and give her a generous tip before taking my coffee and heading back down to the Marina.

Walking down the long dock that goes out over the water, I breath in the ocean air that is no longer odd to me. The sun has almost sunk below the horizon and the colors in the sky are just phenomenal. I never understood people's obsessions for sunsets until I moved here. It is so captivating, I could probably just stand here for hours looking at the skyline.

After a little while of watching the sky change to several different colors, I resolve to at least walk to the other end of the park and back to work off the latte I just drank before I go back to make our dinner. I follow the walk way into Beach Park and walk around the meadow, then back around the Founders Lodge, before I turn heading down to the beach. It is getting a little chilly and the park is empty but I don't mind. It is so serene here, I just love it. This place reminds me of everything that Chicago isn't. I pick up a few of the rocks and throw them out into the water, watching them drop into the water with a splash.

"You shouldn't do that!" A deep voice behind me startles me and I spin around. A tall muscular man is standing several yards behind me. The sun disappeared a while ago and I can't see all his features clearly, but he has a smile on his face which eases my tension a bit. "Sorry. I didn't know you aren't suppose to." I tell him sweetly hoping I won't get into any trouble. I mean I have seen kids do it in the past and had no idea there was any rules against it. "It is sort of an unsaid rule. If everyone that came down here did that, the rocks would gradually disappear and it changes the landscape of the beautiful park." His voice isn't quite rude but it is almost condescending. I give him a polite smile just because I don't want to let him ruin my peaceful evening. "Like I said, I apologize. I will be sure I don't do it again. He nods his head up and down slowly but when his eyes follow his nod, looking me up and down, it gives me the creeps.

I take that as my que to leave. It is getting pretty dark and it is cold now that the sun has gone down and I only have a tight tee shirt and skinny jeans on. I really should have brought a jacket. I give the gentlemen a nod and head back toward the front of the park to the Marina. After a minute I chance a glance over my shoulder and the guy is still standing in the same place staring out at the water. Ok, that was kind of creepy. I guess I understand why Eric always insist on joining me for my walks. Once I get a little further away where I am sure the guy can't hear me, I start humming and slow my walking to a leisurely pace as I go back around the meadow. I might as well enjoy this last part of my walk before I have to go home and do school work. I really do hate school, even if I am good at it. I look around and this place is so green, full of trees and bushes surrounding the lush green grass. This would be a cool place to have a birthday or even a wedding. There is often a small breeze but it is so beautiful. The wedding pictures would be amazing if they were done at sunset. I can't help but wonder if Eric and I will ever get married.

I am started again by that same voice and it sounds quite close to me. "Miss?" I turn quickly and the guy is standing only a few feet behind me. How did I not hear him behind me. "Yes?" I ask warily. "Do you live around here?" I am starting to really not like this guy. "Yes, I live just above the Marina." His lip turns up in a sly smile. "Then you should really know that you should not walk around in the dark alone. Maybe I should walk with you." I huff, that has got to be the worse pickup line I have ever heard. I wonder how many times he has tried that. "I think I will be just fine thank you." I say a little sarcastically. I am about to turn around but he takes a step forward bring him closer to me. "But there my be someone bad lurking around here." His tone sends chills down my spine. The sudden change in the atmosphere puts me on high alert. I really need to get out of here, like now. "I um, will be ok. I can defend myself." I try to say with confidence but my voice betrays me.

"Good because it is funner when you fight back!" He jumps forward and grabs me by both my arms. _Fuck!_ My chest react automatically cutting half off half of my oxygen supply. _This is not happening._ "Fucking let me go asshole." He grips my arms with bruising force as I try to pull out of his hands. "Come on, no need for the language sweetness." He starts dragging me to the side toward the trees and bushes. _This cannot be happening._ "I said fucking LET ME GO ASSHOLE!" I scream at him as my panic rises and then I feel a sharp sting across my cheek. "I said watch you language you little fucking whore." My vision is burred as the tears well up in my eyes from him smacking me and I feel myself getting dizzy from the lack of oxygen reaching my lungs as my panic attack setting in. _Do something now._

As he tugs me to the side again, I lung forward toward him bringing my knee up and it successfully connecting with his groin. "Bitch!" He yells as he releases me and bends over grabbing himself. I quickly turn to run but I am stopped quickly as he grabs a handful of my hair pulling me back flush against him and he wraps his arms around me tightly. Tears are streaming down my face and I can't believe this is happening to me. Before I move to try to get out of his hold he throws me to the ground and kicks me hard in the ribs before siting down on top of me straddling my hips. He grabs my hands in one of his and pins them above my head and clamps his other hand over my mouth, muffling my shouts. Using the hand over my mouth, he pushed my head down forcefully, and the back of my head hits one of the many small rocks that litter the grass causing a sharp pain to shoot through my head. I still for a moment, stunned by the pain. "Your mine now sweetness." His words bring me out of my momentary trance but he is much stronger the me and no matter how much I struggle, the only thing I can move is my legs. My legs flail around and I manage to push my hips up off the ground just a little, but he is too heavy for me to get them up enough to turn. _"_ Ohh, feisty!" _Fuck, Fuck Fuck._ I can't breath, _BREATH!_ I can't let my panic attack take me over. I have to get free. _Fight Dani!_ He pulls my face to the side and leans in putting his disgusting lips on my neck. "Damn sweetness, you taste good!" I try to buck him off me again but it is useless. Suddenly he smacks me again and puts his hand around my neck. Both my hands shoot to his wrist trying to pry it off. Blackness begins to edge it's way across my vision and am suddenly reminded of Eric's sulky face as I left to go take my test. _This can't be it._ I cannot let that be the last time I see him again.

The man yanks down the collar of my shirt with his other hand ripping it and he begins to touch me. _Fight Dani!_ I hear Eric's words in my head and I am back at camp watching him demonstrate ways to get away from an attacker. _Fight!_ His words come again. I feel the mans hand tugging to undo his pants. _Danielle NOW!_ I react to Eric's final demand in my head. My arm shoots up wrapping around his arm holding me down breaking his hold on me as I buck and twist my hips at the same time. Pushing off with one leg and tucking the other, I use my other hand to push his shoulder all in one movement. We both roll to the side and end up sitting on top of his. I see his stunned expression through my tears and before he can react I grab the rock laying in the grass next to me and hit him as hard as I can in his temple and he goes limp below me. _He's out, RUN!_ I tell myself and I am up in a instant running toward the marina.

I stubble along the walkway trying to catch my breath but my chest is tight and my legs are rubber and my body is becoming numb. I have to keep going but I can't, as soon as I reach the marina, I collapse onto my hands and knees. I am not going to make it. He is going to catch me. "Danielle?" I hear the sound of my angle. and I want to look at him but I can't move. "Babe what..." Is the last thing I hear as I collapse completely and the blackness pulls me down.

"Baby please wake up. Please." I hear Eric's panicked voice and sirens getting louder and louder. "Danielle, open your eyes please!" I allow my eyes to open and they meet the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. "Thank God babe, what happen? Are you ok? Who did this to you?" His words come out in a rush. He is holding me in his lap and I hear a voice coming from the phone pinned between his shoulder and his ear. "She is awake, where the hell is the ambulance." He shouts into the phone. "Dani tell me what happened." He says again and I can see the panic in his eyes. "A man in the park." Tears began streaming down my eyes again. "Fucking Christ, don't tell me he-" I shake my head no quickly as he looks down my body. "Did he touch you." He ask looking down at my ripped shirt but I can't answer him. "Fuck!" He pulls me tight against his chest. A police car pulls up quickly coming to a stop and two policemen get out and run over to us. "Sir, Sir, what happened." They ask him.

"Some guy in the park attacked her. Babe, is he still there? Please tell me you fucking knocked him out." My body is shaking so bad and I try to pull Eric closer to me. I can't say anything, I nod my head, telling them yes, and the cop quick pulls his gun out of the holster telling us to stay here. Him and his partner quickly run off toward the park entrance. Another cop car pulls up and the man runs off toward the park toward the other two, while the police woman comes over to us. "Ma'am, there is an ambulance on the way. Are you hurt?"

"No." I tell her in a whisper as I try to slow the river of tears flowing down my cheeks. "Don't fucking lie Dani, your face is swollen. Now tell me what happened." I can tell he is trying not to freak out in anger. The cop looks at him irritated. "Sir please calm down." He just throws her his glare before turning his head back to look at me. "Babe, I need you to talk to me." He says softer as runs is fingers along my sore cheek. "Please." He pleads. I squeeze my eyes shut hearing the sorrow in his voice. "A guy in the park. He attacked me." His grip around me tightens and I bury my face in his chest. "He tried to-to-"

"But he didn't right?" He says getting angry again and I shake my head. "I knocked him off me and hit him with a rock and, and ran, but I couldn't breath-, I couldn't- I panicked, I-" My words stutter from my mouth and I can't finish because my words turn into sobs. My chest begins to tighten again thinking about the guys hands on me and my chest begins to rise and fall quickly.

"Shh, Shh, it's ok baby I got you! I got you! Your safe now." He says gently to me as he holds me tightly and rocks me in his lap. His soothing words and actions push my oncoming panic attack back down. Several more police cars pull up and an ambulance and a flurry of noise starts around me. I just try to bury my face deeper into Eric's chest. I don't want to be here, I just want to go home. I hear the woman stand up and start taking, repeating what I said to someone.

I feel another pair of hands on me suddenly and I jump and start squirming knowing they don't belong to Eric and they disappear quickly. "Dani calm down!" I hear Eric's authoritative voice rings out and I still in his arms that are so tight around me they're cutting off my air. He relaxes his hold when I still. "Ma'am, I need to check to make sure your ok." I feel his hand again and I flinch away from the touch. _Don't touch me!_ I don't want no one to touch me. "Danielle, please let him look at you." My hands fist into Eric's shirt. I feel his finger under my chin forcing me to look up into his eyes. "Please, for me." He says softly with pleading eyes. He looks so mad, sad, and almost scared. My heart breaks and for a moment we are the only two there as I stare up at him. I take a few deep breaths and I loosen my hold on him.

He grabs my legs and slides them around so I am sitting between his legs with my back to him, but he keeps his hold around my waist and I keep my hold on his arms. I try to breath like Christian taught me. I don't want to freak out again. There are too many people watching me right now. "She gets panic attacks when she is touched, she has already had one and is on the verge of another so try not to touch her as much as possible." He tells the EMT sternly and it pisses me off that a bunch of people just heard that but I am grateful for his warning as well. The guy nods his head at Eric before he looks down at me. I see pity in his eyes and I hate it. Anger quickly rises within me. "Don't look at me like that." I snap at him looking down so I don't have to see his face. I feel Eric humph from behind me. "That's my girl." He whispers in my ear. The feeling in my chest is gone now that my anger has pushed it completely away and I feel a little better.

"Were you hit in the face at all?" The EMT ask and I notice the police lady standing behind him watching. "He just slapped me a few times." Eric's arms tense. "Does your head hurt anywhere?" The question brings the throbbing in my head to the forefront of my thoughts. "I hit the back of my head on a rock or something when he threw me down." I say quietly and his face turns white as he looks past me to Eric. He must have that look on his face. "Can I check your head?" I nod at him and lean forward and lowering my head. He presses around my head and when he hits the sore spot I flinch away from his hand and groan. He pulls out a light and checks my eyes. "Did you lose consciousness?" I did but only because of my panic attack. "She passed out when I found her." Eric says when I hesitate.

"Were you hit anywhere else." He ask after feeling around my head more. "He kicked me in my ribs." Knowing what he is going to ask, I lift up my shirt just enough to expose the aching area on my side. "Fucking Christ." Eric says quietly behind me. I know my answers are just pissing him off more and more as he finds out what happened. The guy lightly touches my side and my hand clamps down on Eric's leg as I try to keep myself under control. I try not to groan at the pain but my face still crunches up and I am happy as he quickly removes his hand. "Anything else?" He ask hesitantly looking down toward my pants. I know what he is asking. "No, it happened pretty quickly. He didn't have time to do anything else." I tell him quickly and I see a bit of relief in his face. "Well over all I would say you are pretty lucky. I don't think your ribs are broken although there is a chance you may have a concussion. You will need to get that checked out at the hospital." He tells me.

"Ma'am, you have blood on your hand and shirt." The woman cop interrupts. "If it isn't yours then my guess is, that it belongs to your attacker." I look down and see what she is talking about. _Did I hit him that hard?_ "I, don't know, I hit him with the rock in the head and ran." I feel Eric kiss the top of my head. "If you don't mind, I need to get a sample of that from your hand, and I will need your shirt." I nod at her as someone brings her a large case. She opens it, taking out a camera, a empty vile and several large long, cotton swabs. "I need to take a few pictures ok?" She says softly. She has me hold out my hand that has blood on in so she can take a picture of it. She continues taking pictures of my face, my torn shirt and my ribs. Then she takes samples of the blood on my hand. I hate this, I just want to go home. "We can get the shirt from you at the hospital." Her voice is soft but it just pissed me off more, because i hear the pity. I have had enough.

"I am not going to the hospital." I tell her firmly. "Dani, you need-"

"I said I don't want to go." I stop him before he can say anything else. "I would recommend you be checked out," the EMT says." I glare at him and stand up quickly making me a little dizzy but I hide it successfully. "I am fine, I just want to go home." Eric stands up behind me. "Ma'am, you really should-" _Fucking hell!_ The lady starts up but I am not listening to another word. "I fucking said I am not going. He didn't rape me, he just beat me up. NOW LEAVE ME FUCKING ALONE!" My voice turns into a shout and Eric's arms are around me in a second. I turn in his arms and bury my face in his chest. "Come on babe, listen to them." He urges me and my will begins to falter, but I really don't want to go.

"Please, please just take me home. I just want to go home." I plead quietly, tears fill my eyes and spill over. "I just want to go home, please." He holds me tightly to him. "Ok." He says in defeat. "But ma'am." I hear the lady say again but Eric shakes his head no. I hear her sigh behind me. "That is you choice but please know I advise against it. We will still need your shirt, you could change in the ambulance." Eric releases me and removes his shirt. "Here put this on."

I follow the EMT to the ambulance and he lets me in and closes the door behind me. I quickly remove the shirt but when I pull the shirt over my head, I get a shooting pain in my ribs. _Fuck!_ I don't know why bad shit always has to happen to me.

"Sir! Sir! Stop!" I hear people yelling outside the ambulance. I quickly put on my shirt despite my ribs protesting and jump out of the ambulance. "You fucking asshole. I will fucking kill you!" Eric is yelling and there are several police officers pinning Eric to the ground yelling at him to 'calm down' and 'stop'. "Eric!" I shout but then I see his eyes looking at something else. I turn my head and see a policeman putting someone in the back of his car. I am frozen in place and the noise fades into the back ground.

"Dani...Dani...Let me...needs me..." I half hear Eric's struggled words but I can't stop looking into the face of my attacker and I suddenly can't breath. They found him. They got him. More tears escape my eyes. Then Eric is in front of me cutting off my view. I feel his hands on my face and see his lips moving but I can't focus. He wipes the tears from my eyes and his voice comes into focus. "Breath baby. Look at me and breath." I take a deep breath into my aching lungs. "That's right breath. It's ok, I'm here, your safe." He wraps me in his arms again bringing me the comfort I need. I squeeze my eyes shut. I just want to go home.

Unfortunately I had to stay for another hour answering questions before they let Eric take me home. He never let go of me once and I was extremely grateful. Feeling him against me, gave me comfort and strength as I had to recount exactly what happened for my statement.

Standing here in front of the bathroom mirror, I feel so cold now. Not because it is cold in here but because I lack his touch. I look over my naked body and my skin is all red from my overly aggressive scrubbing in the shower. I figured if I scrubbed hard enough, it would make the ghost feeling go away, but even after washing myself over and over, it is still there. I have several bruises on my arms and a large bruise on my ribs. My cheek is swollen and my eyes are all red and puffy. I look absolutely terrible. I want to get dressed but I am dreading the pain of having to move. All my muscles are sore and my head is pounding despite the pain medication Eric had me take already.

There is a light knock on the door. If I hadn't locked it, I am sure he wouldn't have bothered, he would have just come in, but I don't want him to see the bruises. I slip on my underwear and shorts and then pull on Eric's shirt, jerking and wincing as the pain shoots through me. I open the door and I see his guarded eyes. "You ok?" He ask cautiously and I give him a nod. He takes a deep breath. "Babe..." I thought I could be strong but my composure breaks hearing his voice and tears well up in my eyes again. I cover my face with my hands. I am so weak, how does he love someone as broken as me. I sink to my knees. "Hey." He says softly as he comes over and holds me. "It's ok babe." I just cry harder. I feel him lift me and he carries me into our room. He sits on the bed with me in his lap and holds me tight as I release everything I have been trying to hold back the last few hours.

Once I have quieted, he stands and lays me in bed, pulling the covers up. "Please don't leave me." I whisper, completely exhausted, but I don't want him leave. I need him, even if it is selfish of me. "I'm not going anywhere." He slips on a pair of sweats and a shirt. I hadn't even realized he still didn't have one on. He crawls in bed next to me and pulls me tightly to him. I quickly relax in his embrace and close my eyes. I feel him kiss the top of my head. I just want to forget today. A song begins to play in my head, pushing away all other thoughts.

 _Hold me now_  
 _'Til the fear is leaving, I am barely breathing_

 _Waking up and letting go, To the sound of angels_  
 _Am I alive or just a ghost? Haunted by my sorrows_

 _Hope is slipping through my hands_  
 _Gravity is taking hold_

 _I said I'm not afraid, That I am brave enough_  
 _I will not give up, Until I see the sun_

 _Hold me now_  
 _'Til the fear is leaving, I am barely breathing_

 _Crying out_  
 _These tired wings are falling, I need you to catch me_

 _As I burn, As I break_  
 _I can't take it anymore_

 _I return to the place where_  
 _Where the water covers over everything_  
 _Rescue me somehow_

 _Hold me now_  
 _'Til the fear is leaving, I am barely breathing_

 _Crying out_  
 _These tired wings are falling, I need you to catch me_

 _Hold me now..._

"I am so sorry, I failed you again. Please forgive me." I barely register his sad words and I try to answer him, but I am too far gone and an exhausted sleep takes me.

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 **Please let me know what you think. She just can't catch a break, can she. All reviews and comments welcome!**

 **I have to tell you guys that I was writing the very end of this chapter trying to think of how to end it, and this song came on I like to listen to music when I write). Not to sound corny but it seemed like fate that it needed to be in the story right here. It is called 'Hold Me Now' by _Red_. Very good song if you like rock music.**

 **Anyways, hope you liked it. Until next time!**

 **(Music Credit: Hold Me Now - Red)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey my awesome people. I want to give a shout out to all of you who continue to review and give me the encouragement to continue writing such an awesome story. As I am editing the first book, I realize how many mistakes there are so I just want to say thanks for sticking with it. Spelling and grammar was never my forte but I have been trying to go over each chapter several times before releasing it now that I am not doing a chapter a day. Hopefully this book isn't as bad.**

 **Here is another great chapter for you. Enjoy!**

 **This chapter is rated MA. You have been warned!**

This story is rated M/MA for Lemons, language and situations. Not appropriate for younger readers!

Disclaimer: All divergent characters belong to Veronica Roth, all original characters are mine. V.R. characters look like those in the movie. Hope you all enjoy, reviews and thoughts are welcome.

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 **Chapter 9**

 _(Sunday, November 15th)_

 _Thud, Thud, Thud...I hear the boots coming toward me. I am all by myself in a small room, with just a bed and small desk. He is coming to get me. Eric where are you? I need you? Thud, Thud, Thud...It is getting louder. No one is hear to help me, I am all alone. He is going to get me because I am all alone. I let out a small whimper as I pull the blanket tight to my chest and curl up in the corner of the bed to make myself as small as possible. Thud, Thud, Thud...oh god please don't let him come in here._

 _"Oh Sweetness. I hear you." He knows I am here, oh please someone help me please, please! The heavy boots stop just outside the door. He isn't going to pass me up, he is coming for me. I can't breathing, this isn't fair, why me, why me. "Sweeetnnness" His sickening voice calls out to me. The door slowly starts to open and I pull the blanket over my head to hide myself even though I know it won't do any good. I hear the boots enter the room. "Don't hide from me sweetness, I just want one more taste." A hand finds my shoulder..._

"NO!"I sit up breathing hard. The room is dark and I feel to my side but there is no one there. Just as I come to that realization, Eric opens the bedroom door. "Hey you ok?" He ask as he comes to sit beside me. I concentrate on slowing my breathing. "Yeah, I'm fine." I am covered in sweat and I feel disgusting. That was only the second nightmare I have had in the last week, so they are getting better, but it still worries me. I throw myself back on the pillow and Eric's hand find my hair as he stretches out beside me and begins running his fingers through my hair comforting me.

"Babe, I have about had enough hearing those words out of your mouth. Your not fine. You had another nightmare." His low growl makes me flinch away from him. He takes a deep breath to calm himself. "Do you want to talk about it?" He ask in a much lighter voice. I know he means well but I also know he doesn't like hearing what my dreams are about. I have seen the way he has been looking at me when he thinks I'm not paying attention. He blames himself for what happened to me a few weeks ago. It isn't his fault but no matter how much I tell him, it doesn't ease his feelings.

Several nights I have woken up to feel him running his fingers along the scar on my stomach where Lynn stabbed me. I haven't been able to convince him that one wasn't his fault either. I need to do something to make him understand my bad luck is not his fault.

"Dani, are you listening to me?" He say obviously irritated and I realize he had been trying to talk to me. "Sorry babe." I move to snuggle into his side. He takes another deep breath. "What were you dreaming about?" His tone now soft and soothing, but telling him anything isn't going to help him. "I don't remember. I just have a creepy feeling now." I lie to him. His fingers pause for moment but then he continues stroking my hair. I have a feeling he knows I am lying. He has an uncanny way of knowing when I lie. "I love you Eric." I reassure him as I run my hand along his stomach hoping he will let it be. After a moment of hesitation he leans over and kisses me on the head. "I know princess, I know."

We lay like that in silence for a while until his breaths even out and I know he has fallen asleep. Looking at at the handsome man laying beside me, I just don't get it, how can he love me so much? I am hardly pretty, yeah I can be strong willed but that is only because my past has made me a broken and sad person who hides behind a persona of a much stronger person. I know he see past that facade and knows the true me, so I don't get how he can love me. As much as I know he deserves better than me, I can't find it in my heart to push him away. I am too selfish to let him go.

I look over to the clock and it is almost six in the morning. There is no way I am going to be able to go back to sleep so I decided to get up and take a shower before I make some breakfast. I carefully move away from Eric. I freeze for a moment when he stirs but he just huffs and turns his head away. When I am sure I haven't woken him up, I grab one of his clean shirts and some clean panties before I go into the bathroom.

Pulling the shirt off, I feel the icky dry sweat all over me. I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror, see the faded bruise still on my side. All the other bruises have gone away and my ribs are still a little sore sometimes but it isn't too bad. The day after I was attacked the bruise on my ribs had grown and turn several different shades of purple, green and yellow, that ran along my entire side. It's much lighter now and is mostly just an outline but it is still there, reminding me and Eric of what happened. Shaking my head I pull my eyes away from the mirror and get into the hot shower.

Eric has been absolutely frustrating when it comes sex. He has refuse to make love to me since it happened because he says he doesn't want to hurt me. I am starting to wonder if it is that, or if it is just that he doesn't want someone as tainted as me anymore. I try to tell myself that isn't the truth but the more time that goes by, the harder it is to push the feelings away that Eric, might not what me anymore. I've tried several times the last few days to instigate it but anytime I do anything other than kissing him, he pushes me back and tells me I 'need time to heal' and that he 'doesn't want to hurt me'. It has left me not just wanting him, but wanting a release. I never knew woman craved sex until now, but I guess when you enjoy mind blowing sex nearly every day, it becomes an addiction. I have a half a mind to relieve my own ache, but I don't think I can do that, beside it is him I want. _Stop thinking about it!_ I silently yell at myself because just thinking about it is making it worse.

I sigh as I rinse the conditioner out of my hair. I am so tired of everything in my life being so fucking difficult. My whole life is one big struggle of emotions and it isn't getting better anytime soon. Things are going to change tomorrow since we are going back to camp for the winter session. I won't be able to sleep with Eric's arms around me, we won't be able to be openly affectionately when the cadets get there, and yet again I will have to get to a _new home_. I don't even know how the sleeping arrangements will work because there really isn't anywhere else for them to put me and Jeff, but Max told me not to worry about it and things would be ready when we got back.

I wonder if Eric's over protectiveness will ease a little when we get back there. I knew it would happen after I was attacked and now he refuses to do anything or go anywhere without me. Shit, other then when I had to take my test this last week, he hardly leaves me in a room by myself for more than a few minutes, but once we get back to camp he isn't going to be able to be with me twenty-four seven. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if he asked me to wear a tracker at this point. He really needs to ease up because there is no way he can keep all bad things from happening to me. Like he has told me in the past, I always seem to find trouble.

As I get out of the shower, I quickly put my clothes on so I don't have to see my ribs and quickly dry my hair. I walk out to our room and Eric is laying on his back with his arm stretched over the place I should be. He is still laying uncovered and my eye look greedily at the body that is fit for a god. Every perfectly defined muscle in his stomach all the way down to the V where his low hanging shorts start. The ache between my legs starts again and an idea hits me. If this doesn't work, then nothing will. I change into a tight cami tank top so my bruise is still covered but so it shows off my body shape.

I crawl up straddling his legs and place a light kiss on his happy trail. He shifts a little and lets out a moan. I give him a second because I don't want him to wake up just yet. Pulling the sting on his basketball shorts I untie them and pull the front of them down along with his boxer briefs until he is fully exposed. The sight of him even when he isn't hard is a sweet sight. I slowly begin massaging him causing him to twitch in my hand. He begins to stir under me after a minute. "Fuck babe." He says still half asleep so I continues. "Danielle." His eyes are still closed and I smirk knowing that at least he knows it is me and he isn't dreaming of someone else. I lean down waiting for him to open his eyes. It only takes another minute before his moans stop suddenly and his eyes fly open.

The minute his eyes find mine, I take his harden length in my mouth. "Ahh Fuck!" He moans loudly but I don't give him any time to stop me. I suck on him hard pushing him to the back of my throat. His hand finds my head but he doesn't stop me. I continue swirling my tongue around him as I pull him in and out of my mouth at a fast pace. After a lack of sex the past few weeks, it only takes him a few minutes to hit his climax. He doesn't bother warning me anymore knowing I wouldn't stop anyway. His warm fluids fill my mouth while a flurry of curses around my name stagger out of his mouth. I don't stop because I am not finished with him yet.

"Princess." He moans as I continue. "What are you doing?" He ask still breathless from his orgasm. I just hum knowing the vibrations would turn him on. "Jesus Christ." His words pushes my need for him almost to an unbearable place. I stop and climb up his body and kiss him with every ounce of passion I have. His lips move against mine without hesitation and I know he wants this too, I just pray that getting him this excited is enough to make him forget about his aversion regarding my pain, but I have to admit that my ribs are screaming at me for leaning down in my current position.

He must sense it after a moment because before I know it, he rolls me onto my back so he is half laying over me on my good side. "Babe." He tries to break our kiss but I hold his lips to mine. "Danielle." He tries again but I am not having this, I want him so bad right now. "I don't want to hurt you." He pleads against my lips and I stop kissing him but don't let him move back away from my lips. "Please Eric." I beg him. "I need you Eric, please." A tear escapes my closed eyes. I can't handle being rejected by him again. I need this right now. He pulls back just slightly. "Please." I plead softly one last time and more tears fall.

Another second passes before I feel his lips begin to kiss me from the side of my eye down to my ear, following the trail of tears. I can't help the tears that continue to fall knowing he is giving himself to me finally. His lips find mine again. "Please don't cry babe. I'm yours, all yours." He whispers into my lips and his words hit my heart hard. This is what I needed, I needed to hear him, to feel him and it is such sweet bliss as he kisses down my neck and removes my panties before shedding his own clothing.

As he positions himself between my legs, I notice he barely puts any weight on me but the thought is pushed away quickly as I feel him slowly enter me until he is fully sheathed. "I've missed this so much." He whispers in my ear as he begins moving at a very comfortable slow pace. "You are my world and I love you so fucking much." His pace picks up as his frenzied words sink in. I love this man so much it hurts, but I am so over whelmed with emotion and the feeling of him inside me, that i am speechless. I pull his lips back to my own hoping it will be enough for now.

* * *

After two mind blowing orgasms rip me apart, he finds his release again and then collapses beside me trying to catch his breath. I curl into him and he wraps his arm around me tightly. "Can we wake up like that everyday?" He jokes and for the first time in weeks, _my Eric_ is back. "That would be lovely." I admit with a smile as I kiss him on his chest. "You seem to be feeling better."

He almost sounds smug about it and I wrinkle my nose up. "Sorry. Perhaps it would help if my prince charming wouldn't leave me so sexually frustrated." I meant to say it as a joke but my irritation is peaking through.

"Danielle, I just didn't want you to hurt anymore than you already were." I prop myself up on my elbow so I can look down at him. "I am a big girl and I can deal with the physical pain."

"But I can't deal with hurting you." The frustration is clearly painted on his face now. I look down, "I much rather the physical pain then the emotional pain." I say quietly and I feel his gaze on me. "What do you mean emotional pain?" The confusion mask is frustration. "Eric are you really that blind that you don't see?" I bounce his confusion back to him. "I must be because I have no idea what you are talking about." How the hell can he not understand this?

"Eric, you have spent almost two week treating me as if I were going to break. Until this morning you refused to have sex, you barley kiss me and the only time you hold me tightly is when we are asleep-"

"Because I don't want to fucking hurt you." He growls interrupting me. "But you are hurting me. I am starting to think you don't want me anymore." I confess, closing my eyes to hold back the tears. I feel him pull my chin up and he waits until I look at him. "How could you think that. I tell you all the time how much I care for you." I see the sincerity in his eyes but he still doesn't get it. "I don't need to just hear it Eric. Haven't you ever heard the saying 'actions are louder than word'. I need to feel you dammitt, I need more than just words. I need you!" I sit up throwing my hands in there air as a tear escapes my hold. "Ok, ok, I get it. Calm down. I am sorry ok."

I feel a little relief but I know I am not done yet. I need to get this all out of the way. "And you have to stop beating yourself up over this." His eyes drop away from mine. "It isn't your fault Eric."

"I should have been there." He murmurs quietly and my anger springs back. "No Eric, you can't be with me every minute of everyday and you can't blame yourself when bad things happen to me. That is my life, a string of bad things that happen." He sits up so he is eye to eye with me. "But now I am with you. I should be protecting you." His lips press into a line as he tries to control his anger.

I grab his face. "And you do." I tell him softly trying to get through to him.

"It doesn't seem like it. I failed you so many times." He is still not convinced. "That is not true. You may have not stopped what happened, but you were always there for me after. Like I said, I am a big girl and I can protect myself. I may not come out completely unscathed on the other side but I am alive."

"Barely." He grumbles but his anger seems to have mostly gone. "Hey, I am serious. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't there for me after those things happened. My whole life I have always wanted what we have now. To have someone that could hold me, someone I felt safe with, someone who would except that I was broken and not look at me with pity. And now that I have you, that is what I need, I need you to continue you to be that rock for me, no matter what happens." He closes his eyes taking a deep breath. "Eric, please don't push me away physically because that emotional pain it causes is worse than anything else I have ever felt." His eyes fly open again and he stares at me deep in thought. He goes to talk but hesitates for a moment and I just wait, letting him have the time he needs.

"I'm sorry. It's just that, the way I feel about you. It is something I never had. For the first time in my life I am afraid of something, like so afraid it gives me nightmares. I honestly wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to you. Twice now in only a few months, my nightmare has almost come true. Danielle, I refuse to live without you. You are mine and it is my job to protect you, you can't tell me not to protect you."

"Fine then, protect me from the outside world. Stop trying to protect me from you!" I yell at him completely frustrated. He stares at me shocked at my outburst and then his lips are crushing to mine, rough and wanting. He pulls my legs over his lap so I am straddling him and I moan as I feel our still naked cores meet and he hardens against me. He lifts me slightly, positioning himself under me and even though my ribs scream at me, I am lost as he pushes me down burying himself in me.

* * *

"Dani..." Eric's whispered voices wakes me and I feel his light kisses across my shoulder and arm. "Princess time to get up." I don't open my eyes because right now I am content and would be happy to just stay right here in our bed for the rest of the day. My stomach growls, it obviously doesn't agree with my mind and I hear Eric chuckle next to me. "Why?" I question him sleepily. "As much as I would love to stay here in bed with you all day, I am hungry. Come on, it is our last day by ourselves and I want to take you somewhere."

"It isn't the gym is it, because I think I got enough of a work out today." I smirk at him and he laughs. "No, I just thought we could go eat and show you one of my favorite place to go when I was a kid." I perk up at the thought of seeing something he did as a kid. "Ok."

"Nice, now get dressed, my stomach is killing me. It is a little chilly so grab a sweater." He gets off the bed grabbing his sweater as I realize he is freshly showered, dressed in jeans and a shirt. He must have been up for a while. He stops in the door way. "You got five minutes, hurry up or I am going to just take you in what you have on." I glare at him being I am only in a cami and he laughs before continuing out of our room. I jump up quickly and through on a pair of cute jeans and a shirt before grabbing my dauntless bootcamp hoodie.

Eric is waiting for me with a smile as I realize the sweater he grabbed is the same one I have on. It is kind of corny to match but who cares. We go down to the garage and I am surprised when he opens the passenger door to his Armada instead of the Charger. I mean, I knew it was his car but we never use it. I give him a confused look. "I want to stop and get the oil changed and stuff since we are taking it tomorrow." He explains. When he had first told me that this was his car, he explained he got it last year because he decided he needed a 'winter car' since he is up in the mountains during the winter.

He gets in the car and starts it up. It is amazingly comfortable and has all kinds of electronic things on the dash, just like his Charger. He pulls out of the garage but he surprises me yet again when we only drive two blocks away and he parks at Wally's Chowder House. "I am too hungry to wait." He explains with an adorable smirk and I laugh; men and their stomachs. Then again, I am pretty hungry myself.

* * *

Eric exits the freeway just past Seattle. We had a delicious lunch and then we went up to the a car shop so he could have the Armada's oil changed and everything checked over before we leave tomorrow. Eric seems a bit lighter which really has made me feel better. I just want things to go back to normal and it seems they are starting to.

"So are you going to tell me where we are going?" I ask curiously as he drives down what looks like a residential street. "Nope, I am going to show you." He suddenly pulls over on the side of the road and parks the car. I look at him with a raised eyebrow. "Come on." He says as he gets out of the car and I follow him as he takes my hand. We don't walk long when I notice people gathering under the bridge we are walking toward. My curiosity is peaked. _What are we doing..._ I ponder to myself.

As we go under the bridge, I follow his eyes and my mouth drops. Against the wall under the bridge is a huge dirt troll that looks like he is crawling out from under the bridge. It is absolutely massive and is one of the craziest things I have ever seen. "Pretty amazing isn't it?" I nod my head. "That is an actual VW beetle that he is holding." He tells me and I just stand there admiring the artwork before me. He moves to stand behind me wrapping his hands around my waist. "I use to come here as a kid." He tells me softly in my ear. "I was always fascinated with odd pieces of art and I remember reading the book 'Three Billy Goats Gruff' when I was really little. I particularly remember reading it because my dad got mad at me telling me it was a waste of time to read fairy tales." He pauses and I feel a little sad thinking of how horrible it must have been for him. "My grandfather brought me here when I was ten. After that, I found any reason I could to come back. It was my way of defying my father and his idiotic beliefs. It was almost comforting to me to sit here and watch parents bring there kids. It showed me that not all families were as dreadful as mine and would dream about what it would be like to have different parents."

I look around and I see what he means. I see kids running around, crawling on the troll, laughing and playing while the tourist take pictures. I turn and look at him and he has the most daydreaming smile on his face. I don't think I have ever seen that look before. He looks down at me and kisses me. "You want to take a picture with it?" He ask and I nod my head excitedly with a smile. We go closer to the troll and Eric ask a guy who is clearly a tourist to take our picture with his phone. We stand back toward the statue and Eric squeezes my side causing me to grin widely as we get our picture taken.

The gentleman hands Eric the phone back and I look at the picture. We are both smiling like crazy fools; I love it. Eric thanks the guy and after we admire the troll for a few more minutes watching everyone around us.

"I miss him already. I know it is stupid because I really didn't see him that often but just knowing I can't call him and talk to him, it makes me miss him." I know he is talking about his grandfather and I feel sad for him. "Did you see the note I sent with the check I signed over?" I shake my head. "No, I didn't want to intrude." He huffs behind me holding me tighter. "You are never intruding princess." He kisses the top of my head. "I wrote that the money was to pay for my real father's funeral expenses and that as his son, I was proud to pay for it. I said that I no longer had a father and to never contact me again." I didn't know what to say to that so I just turned in his arms and held onto him tightly.

We walk down back to the car and I try to lighten the mood again. "There really is a lot to see in this city, isn't there?" I ask.

"Yeah, I guess there is. I have lived here for so long, I just have never really thought about it. How about I show you a little more of it." He ask me with his signature smirk. "Sounds good to me, where to?" He begins driving and seems to be thinking about where he wants to go. "How about the Seattle Center? We can catch dinner before we go back home." This man and food. I laugh at him. "Ok."

It only took us a few minutes to get to the Seattle Center. Eric pulls me around showing me the different things like Key Area where some basketball team named the 'SuperSonics' use to play before they moved to Oklahoma and the Exerience Music Project museum which he promised to bring me back to when we had more time since he knows I love music. We walk over and he shows me where the Seattle Science Center is and again promises to bring me back to see it since it is too late to go now. He stops in front of the gate and I see the wheels turning in his head.

"What?" I question, raising my eyebrow at him. "I will show you after dinner." He says as he starts pulling me toward the Space Needle that is just to the side of us. "Wow, that is where we are going for dinner?" He nods his head.

We wait in line to take the elevator up to the top. When we get up there, the view is breathtaking. Of course, the ever knowledgeable Eric tells me about the history of the Space Needle and I listen fascinated. I could listen to him to take for days.

After I have had enough looking around we go to the restaurant. I feel a little underdressed but it doesn't seem to bother Eric so I just ignore it. We have a wonderful dinner and I love that Eric is smiling again. He keeps finding ways to touch me and keeps a hold of my hand. The problems of the past two weeks melt away as the evening wears on.

Once we get back outside it is dark and the city is lit up in artificial light. Eric takes my side and we walk back to where the science center was. A line has formed and we go to the ticket box where Eric simple buys two tickets but never says what they are for. We get in the line and the suspense is killing me. "Ok, tell me what the heck are we doing." A absolutely adorable smile plasters across his face. "We are going to see Laser Linkin Park." I love the sound of my favorite band but I am still confused.

"Um, what is that exactly?" The line starts moving before he can answer me and we are ushered into a large room. Eric leads me over to the center and pulls me down so we are laying on the floor on our backs. I look around feeling a little odd but everyone one else is doing the same. After a minute the lights go out and music starts playing. It is really loud and then lights start dancing. Laser lights start dancing around the room to the music. This is just the coolest thing ever.

I squeeze Eric's hand that is still in mine. He pulls me over to lay on his shoulder. He kisses me on the head and begins running his hand through my hair as I listen to my favorite band's music bumping through the air to the light show. This man has completely blown me away, again!

* * *

On our way home, I get a text. I pull it out, opening my text app and see it is from Marlene.

 **Marlene:** Hey Dani, hope you are feeling better.

Eric had told Paulo about what happened so naturally Marlene found out. She has asked if she could come visit but I really hadn't felt like seeing people with the tension that was between me and Eric. I ended up telling her that I was ok, but that I wasn't feeling well and would see her when we got to camp. I decide to text her back.

 **Dani:** I am feeling much better. Can't wait to see you tomorrow.

"Who is it?" Eric give me a questioning look. "Marlene, she is just checking up on me. She can't wait to see me tomorrow." He huffs and goes back to concentrating on driving. Something tells me he isn't completely happy about going back, but I don't want to ask because right now I am floating in the clouds from the day we have had. It is getting late so I don't expect a text back, but after a minute, my phone buzzes.

 **Marlene:** Good to here. Can't wait to see you either. We can have a little girl time finally :)

Girl time huh. Not really my thing but I really do like Marlene. I guess she is like me a little. She is strong, doesn't like girl drama and is straight forward. I admire those qualities, so if I am going to have a close girl friend, she would be a pretty good fit. My phone buzzes again and I look at it.

 **Marlene:** I almost forgot. Make sure to see me in my office tomorrow. It has been 13 weeks so I need to do a pregnancy test and give you your shot.

My stomach falls and my whole world goes numb.

 _Pregnancy test?_

* * *

 **Cliffhangers...I know but you won't have to wait to long I promise and we are heading back to camp so lots more in store for you as Dani finds out what it is like to be an instructor. Jeff will be back too and pregnant possibly? I don't know is it too early? I have a lot of ideas flying around my head on how I want to continue this so I just have to nail it down a little. As always, reviews and comments welcome.**

 **Pictures for this chapter will be posted on tumblr soon and there are ones for the previous chapter. You can view them by searching leneah1 or by going to leneah1 dot tumblr dot com. Let me know if you guys know what you think.**

 **Until next time!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey everyone. I just want to say I am sorry about the mix up with posting the last chapter but it is all fixed now. Thank you so much for everyone who let me know I posted the wrong one. you guys are awesome as always. I have another chapter for you and some surprises. This chapter ended up to be longer than I intended but I couldn't stop writing. Hope you like it. Enjoy!**

This story is rated M/MA for Lemons, language and situations. Not appropriate for younger readers!

Disclaimer: All divergent characters belong to Veronica Roth, all original characters are mine. V.R. characters look like those in the movie. Hope you all enjoy, reviews and thoughts are welcome.

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

 _(Monday, November 16th)_

 _Somehow I found  
_ _A way to get lost in you  
_ _Let me inside  
_ _Let me get close to you  
_ _Change your mind  
_ _I'll get lost if you want me to  
_ _Somehow I found  
_ _A way to get lost in you_

I am momentarily pulled from my thoughts as I hear Eric start humming the song playing through the speakers. I don't know if I have ever heard him do that and if I had, it could have only been once or twice. He loves to listen to music just like me but he usually only moves his head to the music. Not wanting to him to stop, I keep myself from looking at him and continue looking out the window. We are close to camp and I am just getting more and more nervous.

I haven't been able to get Marlene's text out of my head. Eric of course has noticed my change in mood even though I have been trying not to show it. He has asked me several times what is wrong but I just play it off as if it is nerves because we are going back to camp. Like always, he knows there is something else but he hasn't pushed me any further.

Eric tugs on my hand that he's holding causing me to turn toward him and he kisses the back of my hand. " _I'm nothing without you._ " He says singing along to the song as he looks into my eyes. I can't help but smile at him. That was so corny but just too cute. He kisses my hand again, mirroring my smile. "We're almost there. You still nervous?"

"Yeah, a little." I bite the inside of my cheek and immediately regret it because again, he knows I am holding something back, but I don't want to worry him about it so I don't elaborate. I am sure it is fine, it has to be. "Are you sure you don't want to tell me what else is bothering you?" _Why does he have to be so damn observant._

"It's just nerves babe. That's all." He rolls his eyes at me before going back to concentrate on his driving. It's the truth, it really is nerves, it's just not about camp. Maybe a little fear as well. I mean, I can't be pregnant. I am barely eighteen and we have only been together for a few months. I don't even know if Eric wants kids. I certainly haven't ever seen him around kids. Having kids is such a big deal and honestly, I kind of wanted to be married before I have kids. Something I don't think Eric and I are even close to yet.

If I was pregnant and Eric didn't want it, there is no way I could end the pregnancy. I just wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did that. But how could I raise a kid all by myself and if Eric and I split up there is no way I would be able to stay at the camp or live with him. That only leaves me going back to Chicago pregnant and alone. This is always my luck, just as things start to look up just a little, something has to go and screw it up.

We finally exit the freeway and make our way to the back road that goes to the camp. The knot in my stomach tightens with every mile we get closer. _It's going to be fine, it has to be._ I trying telling myself to ease my nerves but it isn't working. As we turn to pull into the long drive way, Eric squeezes my hand again.

Pulling up to the front of camp, there are only a few cars in the parking spots. We still have another hour before we are suppose to be here. Max had sent a group text to everyone early this morning telling us to stop by his office once we get there, so that needs to be our first stop. Eric gets out without a word and gets both of our large bags out of the back before we head to Max's office.

"Good morning Eric, Dani. Welcome back." Max greets us. Eric and I both say hello. "Dani, you will be in cabin two with Marlene. We have added a few cabins and there are some extra things going on this session, but I would like to wait until everyone to get here so I don't have to repeat myself. Eric, the instructor cabin dorm will remain the same. Why don't you guys go get your things put away and I want everyone in the mess haul by eight for our welcome breakfast." With that he nods effectively dismissing us.

Eric nods and leads us outside but I can't help but notice he seems a little upset. "You okay?" I ask as we walk. "I just don't like being out of the loop. He never said anything about changes." Always wanting to be in control. "So does Max always run things through you first?" I question curiously. _How close are they?_

He glares at me. "No, not everything but usually anything that effects myself or the other instructors." I can't help but giggle at his pouty face, earning me another glare. "I'm glad it takes me being irritated to get you out of your little mood." His lips press into a line. I know it shouldn't be funny to me but it is. Pouty Eric's facial expression is priceless and I let out another giggle as his irritation radiates off him. "Sorry babe, but I can't help but think of the irony. That pout of your is fit for a prince." I tease and we stop out in front of my cabin.

Suddenly he drops out bags and pushes me up against the door with his body. "Keep laughing at me princess and see what happens." His voices is completely serious as he puts his hands on my hips, gripping them tightly, sending a tingling feeling through my body. "In that case, stop distracting me so I can do it some more because that sounds fun to me."

His lips are on mine, soft yet demanding and I am lost in his touch. A muffled moan escapes my lips and his fingers clamp around me even tighter. "We still have a while before we have to start work." His whispers vibrate on my lips and right now that sounds like the best thing I have heard in days. All the sudden, the hard surface behind me is gone and I'm falling backward. Eric's hands on my hips keep me in place so only my top half goes back. I grab his shirt and pull myself back up. "Or not..." He grumbles, looking over my shoulder irritated again.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I didn't care to hear what I think was going to happen next." Marlene says in a way too peppy voice. "Marlene, you are on thin ice right now." He tells her and I go to turn to face her but he holds me in place. I realize that I feel his hardness against me and he is probably trying to hide it from her so I just put my hand on his chest. "Easy tiger." His glare shoots to me but I ignore it and slightly turn my upper body toward her in as much as I can with him holding me in place. "Hey Marlene, sorry about that."

"What are you sorry for, she interrupted us?" He questions and I slap his chest for being rude. "Well, there is the Eric we all know and love. I knew he wouldn't be too far away." Marlene laughs out obviously oblivious to the death glare she is getting right now. "Anyways, sorry Eric but I need to steal Dani away for a few minutes. I need her in the clinic." She grabs my hand and yanks me away from him before he can protest. "You can just put her bag on her bed and I promise to return her soon." She yells over her shoulder as she hurries us through the court yard to the infirmary. I glance back in time to see Eric shaking his head and adjust his pants before picking up my bag.

"Do you love tormenting my boyfriend?" I ask with a laugh. "Sometimes." She acts as if it is nothing. "Do you have a death sentence or something?" She looks at me like I have two heads. "Please, I could see past that 'I'm the biggest badass' facade he puts on a long time ago. He doesn't scare me." I look at her in disbelief. "Ok, well he can be a little scary sometimes but I know he would never hurt me." At least she admits it because he kind of scares me sometimes too. My mind flints back to the night he got the phone call from his mom. Looking back at it, it was pretty terrifying watching him in the kitchen.

We get into the building and she goes straight to a urine cup on her desk. "Here you go. I need you to pee in this and just leave it on the sink when your done." She gives it to me and pushes me toward the bathroom. _Shit._ All my previous worries that had been momentarily pushed back, spring to the front of my thoughts. _Breath, just breath._ I tell myself to pushing down the panic. I quickly do what she ask before I can completely freak out.

As soon as I walk out she walks in without looking at me. I am frozen standing next to her desk as I watch her move around. She put on some gloves and I have to turn away, I can't watch what she is doing for some reason. I start biting on my nails as she comes back out and starts unlocking her cabinets. "It will take a few minutes. So-." She tries to start a conversation but it is drowned out by my thoughts and all I can do is look at the floor _Please say not pregnant, please say not pregnant._ I repeat over and over in my head.

I feel like I am going to die here, why can't the stupid test be instantaneous. For the first time, I feel like I am having a panic attack that has nothing to do with someone touching me. "Dani, Dani what do you think?" I look up and Marlene is standing in front of me holding the test. "Have you heard anything I have been saying?" Here eyes pull together and I regretfully shake my head no and look down at the test. She looks to the test and then looks back to me. "Were you worried about this." She gestures to the test in her hand but I can't answer her.

Her lips press in a line. "I am sorry, I didn't mean to worry you. It is negative." I let out a staggered breath and lean down putting my hands on my thighs. "Jesus Dani, were you really that freaked out about it?" I look at her like that was a stupid question. "Um, yeah Marlene, I don't think me being pregnant right now would be a good thing." I snap at her and instantly regret it when her face falls.

"Sorry, I just have been freaking out since I got your text last night. I mean, I might want to have a kid in the future but right now I don't think I could handle that!" My words begin to rush out. "With everything that has been going on and all the things that have happened in the last six months, I just don't know what I would do." She puts throws the test and disposes of her gloves before she places her hands on my shoulders and looks me in my eyes. "Hey, slow down. Stop freaking out, you are not pregnant. I just have to do that before each shot. As with any birth control, it isn't one hundred percent but it has one of the best prevention rates of any birth control option. So don't worry about it."

I take a deep breath. "Again, I'm sorry. I had no idea you would react like that.". I shake out the lingering panicked feeling. "It's okay, I was over reacting." She puts on a clean pair of gloves and picks up the shot that she had set on the table sometime while I was spaced out. I turn and pull down my pants the edge of my pants. "So did you hear me say that Paulo and I are going to get a place together."

I look up surprised and she choose that exactly moment to stick me with the needle. "Ouch!" She lets out a little chuckle. "And to answer your question is no. I didn't hear you the first time but I think it is awesome. You guys are actually really cute together. Where are you guys moving?"

"We have the next couple of months to figure it out and find a place. My lease is up next month, so I spent the last few days packing and my brother is going to put it all in storage for me. My apartment is just a small studio so there isn't much." I hope they decided to stay near us. I really have come to like her and she is one of the only 'girl friends' I have. "That is nice of him. Do you really think you can put up with Paulo, twenty-four seven? I mean, that man doesn't take anything seriously." She lets out an exaggerated huff. "Please tell me how that is any better than that man of yours that wouldn't know how to take a joke if it hit him in the head."

I can't help but laugh because she is so right. "Speak of the devil." She says as she walks over to dispose of the needle in an orange box. Eric walks in and his eyes immediately fall to my hand that is still rubbing my backside where she gave me a the shot. He raises an eyebrow looking between us. "Should I come back another time?" He ask causing me to giggle. "He may not be able to take a joke, but he sure knows how to dish them out." I say and Marlene and I both fall against each other laughing as Eric just stands there looking confused.

"Okay, if you two are done now." He says irritated after a minute of us just laughing at him and it just makes us double over in a new fit of laughter. I feel so much better now that all those stupid ideas are out of my head. Getting fed up Eric finally just takes my hand and pulls me outside. I wave back at Marlene telling her I will see her in a bit as I let him pull me behind him.

When I calm down a little, Eric stops and turns toward me. "If you don't tell me what is going on right now I swear I am going to absolutely lose it. You have been all over the place since last night and it is driving me nuts. What the hell is going on?" I sober up looking at the expression on his face. I didn't realize it was bothering him that much and now I feel like shit for being the cause of his anxiety. The fact that Max has left him out of the loop and he doesn't know what is going on with me has pushed his overwhelming need to control things to the limit.

"It was nothing really, Marlene just caught me off guard but everything is fine now."

"You call that an explanation?" He glares at me more intensely. He is in instructor mode and it irritates me just a little. "Eric, stop looking at me like that. I am not a cadet that you can intimidate." His jaw tenses and after a moment his features soften a little. "It's just Marlene had mentioned I needed to take a pregnancy test before she gave me my next birth control shot and it kind of freaked me out thinking that it was a possibility because we stop using condoms after I got the first shot." His pales as pure shock takes over his whole body. His hands tighten on me and it reminds me of when I saw him on the phone with his mom. "Babe!" I say to him trying to shake him out of the little trans he just fell into but it doesn't work and it worry's me slightly. "Eric!" I shout slightly as I shake him by his arms.

"Your not-" He starts to say and I cut him off. "No I am not. It was nothing really, just routine test." I don't take my eyes off of him and after a second, my words must sink in. He quickly pulls me into a tight hug and I feel his body relax. "Thank fucking god." He mummers in my ear. I guess maybe I was right when I thought he may not even want kids. I really don't want to broach that subject right now but I need to remember to have a conversation with him in the near future.

"Dani!" I hear one of the best voices in my world call out to me. I turn to see Jeff walking up to me fast and I wriggle out of Eric's arms and throw myself at him. He catches me in his arms and give me a quick bear hug before setting me back down and moving his hands to hold my own. "Well you look, the same." He observes and I smile sweetly at him, "Yeah I missed you too." A loud noise comes from beside us as Eric clears his throat. Jeff immediately drops my hands when he sees Eric staring at our joined hands with a murderous look on his face.

"Oh, Ah, Hey Eric." I smile and go to stand in front of Eric just for good measure effectively placing myself between the two. "Did you just get here?" I look around and notice a few of the others are here walking around as well. "I actually got here a few minutes ago and took my stuff to my cabin."

"Cabin? I thought Max was putting you in with us." Eric confused voice comes from behind me. Jeff shrugs at him. "I don't know, Max said that I am in Cabin four with the other guy that Tori picked up from the airport."

I feel the tension radiating off Eric. I know he wants to ask more but he doesn't. He probably doesn't want to hear that the new kid knows more than he does. "I was just heading over to the breakfast, you guys coming?" Jeff ask after a moment of awkward silence.

"Yeah, sure." I tell him and grab Eric's hand, who follows but pulls me to his side so he can wrap his arm around my waist. _Great, here we go again._ He really needs to stop with the jealousy thing. I try to ignore his possessiveness.

We walk into the mess haul and there are several people in uniform setting up breakfast. Max must have had it catered. I see Paulo and Zeke as I feel Eric pulling me to the side toward them. Eric lets go to grab Paulo's hand and do there little back slap hug guys always do. "Sup little sister." Paulo says before lifting me up in to a tight hug. I tense but he doesn't hold on long and Eric immediately grabs my waist when he puts me back down. "You know dude, one of these days she is going to hit you in the face." Eric says matter of factly. "Oh, come on, she would never do that to me, she loves me." Eric's clenches at his words. "Well if she doesn't, I might." He threatens and I give him a warning glare. Paulo is only playing around, no reason to be an ass. Jeff just looks at me shaking his head as a smile tugs at his lips.

Truth be told I am actually slowly getting use to Paulo's touch, similar to the way I am toward Patrick and Jeff. Like with them, as long as I see or know it is him touching me and it doesn't last more then a few seconds, I don't panic. I smile inwardly at the thought that he would be he would the first since it happened other than Eric's unique hold over me. For the first time, I am starting to believe Christian's words that it will get better.

We continue to make our way around the room as everyone greets and catches up with each other. I was surprised to see that even Christian was here. Especially after he had just been at the forefront of my thought. He greeted me with a kiss on the cheek, much to Eric's irritation, and we talked for a few minutes. He informed me it was just for the day since he only had to be here for the pre-camp meeting we were about to start. He made sure to remind me he would like to start seeing me again while we were in camp and that he had arranged with Max to have a session with me after he finishes with the cadets each week. I greet Lauren who has also joined us for the meeting. Everyone seems to be here already with the exception of Uriah.

Just before eight, Max walks in with another man I had never seen and I cannot help but notice how extremely hot he is. He has to be in his late twenties and he is wearing a gorgeous half smile. His long dirty-blond hair is brushed back and falls to the middle of his neck. He has a short well kept goatee and his tight white shirt shows off is well sculpted upper half.

I quickly look down feeling a little guilty for my wayward thoughts. I suddenly feel a little exposed as Eric steps slightly to the side of me, dropping his arm from around my waist and secures his hands behind his back so I am no longer hidden from the two men by Eric's massive form. I suspect Eric's action is because Max has walked into the room and Eric is attempting to move into professional mode. In fact I have noticed that most of the staff have stood up a little straighter. I can't help but see that everyone seems to look up to Max as much as I do. After all, he has done so much for me. He gave me a chance despite my attitude and ridiculous past. I would venture to say that he has done that for most of us. He is truly a stand up man.

"Good morning staff. If everyone wants to dish up their plates and take a seat at the table we can get started." Everyone immediately moves toward one of the long tables that has a huge assortment of food in warming plates. We all get our food quickly and move to sit down at the other table. I hear a couple of people murmur about the guy that walked in with Max but no one seems to know who he is.

Once we are all settled with Max at the center of the table with Mr. Mystery, Max stands up to address everyone. "Alright everyone quiet down." The room immediately gets quiet enough to hear a pin drop. "Welcome back to camp. It is great to see everyone." Max eyes roam over everyone at the table and an irritated look crosses his face. As if he was expecting it, Uriah walks in the door and everyone turns to him.

"Your late." Max chides. "I will be docking your pay for one hour Uriah."

"Ahh come on Max, I am barely fifteen minutes late." Eric shakes his head slightly and mutters to himself. "Dumbass."

"Rules are rules Uriah, did you want to make it two hours." He raises an questioning eyebrow. "No, sorry Max." Uriah concedes with a sigh. "Get your breakfast and join us." Max says dismissing him. I guess Max tends to be just as hard on his staff as they were on us. I know this camp means a lot to him so it only makes sense that he wants the best for it.

"For you newbies, let this be a lesson. I do not like tardiness or half ass work. I have expectations and you will be made aware of them. They are to be followed to a 'T' if you want to keep your job here." His eyes stay on Jeff and I as he is talking and we nod at him when he is finished.

"Now, since Uriah has made me be an asshole this morning, lets get back to our meeting." Uriah sits down in the last seat at the table next to Zeke and Zeke punches him in the arm. "Today I have a little news for everyone." He motions for the guy next to him to stand. "This is Harrison. I am happy to say that Chicago has decided to open their own camp a little quicker than previously planned. Harrison here owns an old education summer camp just outside Chicago that is currently undergoing renovation to become the new bootcamp. Harrison will be joining us for this session to observe how things are run. He will be joining daily tasks and rotating around to learn every part of how we do things. I expect each and every one of you to show him the same respect you show me and help him learn, just as I have taught you."

Max introduces all of us going around the table telling Harrison who we are and our position in the camp. He then motions to Harrison, giving him the floor and takes his seat. "Good morning everyone, It is a pleasure to meet each of you." He says in a British accent. I see all of us woman's mouths drop open and a smirk cross his face like that is a normal reaction. I quickly compose myself before Eric notices but Marlene is not so quick and Paulo gives her a dirty look from across the table. Harrison continues, "I appreciate you letting me into your camp Max. I only hope I can learn enough to be as successful as you have been. I look forward to working with you all over the next few months." He sits back down and Max stands again.

"I have a few more things to announce. To help out Chicago's camp to be successful, I have agreed to help out with staff as well. So after this session Tori, Bud, and Lauren are all relocating to Chicago to work for Harrison." Several of us look to Tori who is sitting on Max's otherside. "That also means I have a position opening for Operations Manager. Eric and Four, I would like one of you to take that position to become one of the camp's leaders. Please just think about it and I would like to talk to each of you later today about it." Eric has tensed beside me.

"With Harrison, Dani and Jeff all here training and learning, I am going to need all you veteran staff to pick up the slack. Lauren will also be helping out more with this session to refresh her before she leaves us. Tori has made up a training schedule for this week that she will be passing out in a few minutes. We want to get them up to date as quick as possible with the vital information before the cadets get here. In addition to training, we need to prepare the cadets arrival. Supplies need to be stock, the camp needs to be cleaned up and in order. I will have information packets for everyone by Thursday so you can read up on all the new cadets. We have one week to get everything in tip top shape. Go ahead and finish up your breakfast and then we can go into everything in more detail." He looks around again at all of us and a smile tugs at his lips. "Welcome back staff and Dani and Jeff, welcome to _the otherside_."

* * *

By the time I make it back to my cabin it is just after six in the evening. Our meeting lasted the entire day until dinner was delivered at five and only stopped occasionally to allow everyone a bathroom break. We had went over some updated statistics from previous sessions and went over the entire week day by day. Max explained what he expected of us going into detail for the sake of Jeff, Harrison and I. We worked through lunch in which Max had bought hoagie sandwiches, chips and cookies. By the time the pizza was delivered for dinner, I felt exhausted from the overload of information. The stack of papers in my hand was just a reminder of everything we had went over.

I throw them down on the neatly made bed with my bag on it. Strong arms wrap around me from behind and it is such a welcomed feeling. I hum leaning my head back against Eric's chest. He hardly touched me all day other than squeezing my leg here and there under the table. I cover his arms with my own. It has been months since I had to go all day without touching him whenever I felt like it, but I know Eric would never be anything less then completely professional.

When we are technically on the clock, we are not to be perceived as a couple which Eric had already explained to me. I thought I was prepared for that but after just one day, I missed his touch so much. I turn around and cuddle into his chest. "I have been waiting hours to be wrapped in your arms." I tell him honestly. He unwraps one of his arms to take my cheek in his hand. "And I have been waiting all day to do this." He leans down and captures my lips with his own. I moan at his contact. I never get tired of feeling his expert lips that always seem to be able to take my breath away.

"Hey guys." Marlene and Paulo walks in and we break apart. He leans his forehead against mine. "I have to go meet with Max. I will see you later." He kisses my forehead and releases me. Damn, this whole roommate kind of sucks. "Eric, we working out tonight?" Paulo ask before Eric gets out the door. Eric's eye find mine asking me silently and I give a slight shrug. I could use it after sitting all day. "Sure, I will meet you here in an hour."

"Sounds good man." Eric leaves closing the door behind him.

I open up my bag and start unpacking. I need to do something to keep busy until he gets back or I am going to go stir crazy. "We are really going to have to make some kind of schedule so we can have some private time with our others." Marlene says and it mirrors my feeling exactly. "I couldn't agree with you more." I tell her and Paulo laughs flopping down on her bed. "Dammit Paulo, get your grubby shoes off my bed or you sure in the hell will not be sleeping on it." I giggle to myself. I just like her more and more.

"Okay sister, some ground rules." I turn to her raising an eyebrow. "Well I am a fairly clean person and Max doesn't like our cabins to be messy so no leaving your stuff everywhere."

"That is easy enough, you may get tired of my OCD." I warn.

"Second, if you and Eric need private time, warn me first because it's the last thing I want to walk in on." I try to stifle my laugh. "Ditto woman."

"Yeah right Dani, you know you would enjoy seeing all of this." He gestures his hand up and down his body and I turn so he can't see me blush. "Please Paulo don't make me vomit." I say and see Marlene roll her eyes. "Here." She walks over to the door and puts a small silver bracelet around the door handle. "If this is on the outside door knob, we know not to enter. Okay." I nod, that actually will make things a little easier.

"Anything else Marlene?" I ask before Paulo can say anything else. "Nope, not that I can think of. I am pretty simple." I need to talk to her more but not while Paulo is here. I go back to putting my stuff away. "Hey my darling, I am going to go finish unpacking real quick so we can play cards tonight. I'll see you in a bit." Paulo tells Marlene as he gets up off the bed. She must nod or something because I don't hear her reply.

When he is gone I turn to her while we have a moment alone. "Hey Marlene. I need to warn you about something." She stops looking through her paper work. "What's up?" I am a little embarrassed to admit it so I just tell her before I lose my nerve. "I sort of get nightmares. Not usually often but after what happened a few weeks ago I have been getting them occasionally." She gives me a warm smile. "No problem, it is no big deal." I am grateful for her playing it down. "Well if they are ever bad enough you feel you need to wake me, just be careful. Eric made the mistake of not watching himself when I was a cadet and I ended up hitting him in the face." She laughs loudly. "I would have paid to see that." I join in the laughter.

We continue on after that putting things away and straightening up. We split the desk drawers and shelving so that we each know whose stuff is whose. I have just enough time to finish and change before Eric is knocking on our door.

When I open it, he is in workout pants and a tight tee shirt almost mirroring what I have on. "Ready?" He ask with a smirk. I give him a nod and we head out to the path. It is weird to be out here this time around because it is so dark already. Last time we were here, it was light until around eight or nine. Now it is dark by five. There are lights on all the building that go around the court yard lighting it to a dim glow. Paulo is already out there waiting for us.

"Anything new?" Paulo ask Eric and Eric gets a sore look on his face. Max says everyone needs to sleep in their own beds this week because Harrison is here."

"Dude are you serious." Eric nods his head yes. "Man that sucks."

"My thoughts exactly." I tell them both and they both laugh at me. "Hey guys." Jeff says running up behind us. "Going for a run?"

"Yep, you joining us?" Paulo ask him. "Yeah, if that is cool with you guys. I need to get back into shape. I haven't really worked out much the last few weeks." Eric laughs at him and I glare at him. "Knock it off Princess, I'm not trying to be mean. I am guessing no one told you two about Friday." I raise an eyebrow at him. "No, I'm sorry, my boyfriend failed to mention it." The sarcasm oozes out of me. Paulo turns his face to hide his snickering. "Well you should really get on him about that. Anyway, the whole staff gets together and we have MMA style fights on the Friday before the cadets get here, so you better get your shit up to par kid." Paulo tell us smacking Jeff on the shoulder harder than necessary.

I roll my eyes at them. "Well lets get going then." I tell them all and take off running. I hear Eric chuckle at me. "You sure you can handle that one?" Paulo questions him. "Fuck off." He volleys back and takes off to catch up to me with Jeff and Paulo close behind.

We run in a comfortable silence for almost thirty minutes before we are all sweating and breathing heavy. "Alright are we ready for a race. Loser buys the winner a bottle of their choice." Paulo ask and we all slow to a stop. "You're on man." Eric answers quickly. "I'll get in on that." I say with just as much confidence.

"Not me man, you all are clearly in better shape." Jeff steps back where we have all stopped to catch our breaths. "Alright, one lap. Jeff can be the judge."

We take another minute and then line up. "Ready, set, go." Jeff calls out to us and we're off. My shorter legs have to work twice as hard to keep up with the guys but I hang back just behind the boys so that I don't tire to quickly. "Come on Eric, your girl making you weak?" Paulo taunts and Eric picks up the pace forcing both of us to follow.

Once we get half way around the path I know I need to pick it up. I refuse to lose so I start pulling up to the outside of Paulo who is barely behind Eric. I even up with Paulo as we reach the three quarters mark. "Not happening sister." Paulo says breathlessly and I smile as I push myself to the limits to start moving in front of him. We are all in a full out sprint for the last part of the run. We are all really close and even though my legs are screaming and I am out of breath, it is going to take one last push to get past Paulo. I wait until we are about fifteen feet from our make shift line and I push myself into maximum overdrive. I pull just ahead of Paulo before we cross the finish line all within a foot or two of each other.

We all double over, putting our hands on our knees. "Eric, Dani, Paulo." Jeff shouts out our placing. "Make it a bottle of Crown you fool." Eric says shoving Paulo's arm as they both stand up but I can't just yet. That run made me a little dizzy."I'll beat you one day." He tells Eric making him chuckle. "Man, you can't even beat a girl." Jeff busts out laughing. "Dude I don't know why your laughing, you didn't even try." Eric throws to Jeff earning him a smack on the arm from me. "Be nice."

Harrison who is standing against the cabin that he is sharing with Jeff, pushes off and walks over to us. "Not bad. Another few feet and she may have beat you both." I hate to admit it but a few more feet and I would have collapsed. "Yeah, one day." I say still a little out of breath and I notice a smile tugging at Harrison's lips. Eric is still watching me with a concerned look, probably because I still am not breathing normally. He snaps out of it hearing my words and raises his eyebrow at me. "Keep dreaming princess."

"So do you guys all work out every day even when you don't have cadets here?" Of course Eric stands a little straighter like he is in charge. "The instructors are expect to be in better shape then the cadets at all time, so yes, most of us work out daily. The rest of the staff are encouraged to keep up the physical training and will often join in the work outs."

Harrison looks impressed. "Yes, you all do look to be in good shape. I am pretty big on fitness myself. Mind if I join you guys occasionally?"

"Anytime. We usually run or hit the gym most evenings, even once camp starts." I swear Eric was made for this job. He sounds so confident and looks like this is second nature to him. "Well I am going to hit the gym, you guys have a good night." With a nod he heads to the gym.

"Well I need a shower." I tell the guys and Eric leans over to whisper in my ear. "Can I join you?" I roll my eyes at him. "You don't have clothes over there yet so you are going to have to take a rain check." I tell him but obviously not quiet enough because Paulo chuckles to himself. "Fine." He says all pissy staring into my eyes but I don't back down, I just stare right back at him.

"Come on Eric. Poker in thirty. Jeff you in?" Paulo says breaking Eric and I out of our little bubble. "Poker. Hell yeah!"

"Meet us back in Dani's cabin." We all nod and Eric gives me one last look before we all split up going our sperate ways.

* * *

I am laying on my bed freshly showered with my feet on Jeff's lap, who is sitting at the end of my bed. There is a knock on the door and I know it is the guys so I shout out for them to come in. Eric and Paulo walk in laughing. Eric walks over and drops a small stack of clothing on my stomach. "Put them in your drawers." He tells me before sending an irritating look to Jeff who picks up on the issue right away. "Hey don't look at me like that. Your girlfriend is the one that thinks I am a foot stool."

Eric's irritated look smooths out a little. "Yeah she seems to do whatever she wants. Maybe you should try standing up to her." Eric urges. "I found life is easier if you just go along with it." Jeff chuckles. Eric look over at me. "Oh, I don't know, I kind of like it when she gets feisty."

He quickly closes the two steps to my bed and grabs me by my waist picking me up off the bed causing me to grab his neck and wrap my legs around his waist as I let out a loud squeal. "Eric." I shout, smacking him on the chest rewarding me with his cute smirk. I can't help but to give him a chastising kiss, he is so adorable when he is playful. "See." He tells Jeff as he lets me down and everyone laughs.

We gather around the table and again we are one chair short so I end up sitting on Eric's lap while they play. I don't really mind because I would much rather sit here with him playing over my shoulder, touching and kissing me, then playing myself. It reminds me a lot of the first night I joined them for poker. But I will have to talk to Marlene to see what we can do to get a few folding chairs because I have a feeling this isn't going to be the last time.

* * *

 **They finally made it to camp again and now we have a new character Harrison. Like it or not, I picture him as Charlie Hunnam. He just seems like a perfect fit for what I picture happening in the future. Let me guys know what you think about the new developments. I am still updating the first book and reposting on Wattpad to get it out for others to read so if you use it, go and vote for it please. As always, all reviews and comments welcome. Until next time!**

 **(Music Credit: Lost in You - Three Days Grace)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey Everyone. I hope you had an awesome Thanksgiving. I always host dinner for mine and my husbands family so I have been extremely busy but I was able to relax yesterday to pound out this chapter. I figure we needed some Eric time so here you go. Enjoy!**

This story is rated M/MA for Lemons, language and situations. Not appropriate for younger readers!

Disclaimer: All divergent characters belong to Veronica Roth, all original characters are mine. V.R. characters look like those in the movie. Hope you all enjoy, reviews and thoughts are welcome.

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

 _(Tuesday, November 17th)_

 **Eric POV**

I just don't understand why in hell my life has decided to become so complicated. Six months ago, I was in this same spot, preparing for a new session with a new group of cadets. My life at that point had become a back and forth of a simple, easy routine. Work was my only commitment. Other than that, I had nothing to irritate, bother or anger me which was the way I liked it. I had worked really hard to create that life and I was comfortable with it.

Then she came into my life and it seems like ever since, my world has been turned upside down. I don't blame her, none of it is her fault, not directly anyway. Bad luck just seems to find that girl where ever she goes.

A big part of it is her uncanny ability to attract men which only causes more problems. It took me a while to figure out exactly why that was because she isn't one of those overly beautiful, sex goddess-type women that gets every man's attention the minute she walks in the room. Yes, she has an athletic body, long dark hair, gorgeous eyes and the cutest smile ever, but it isn't those looks that attract men. Well maybe it attracts a few because she is beautiful, but it is everything else about her that makes her so noticeable to men. It's the way she carries herself. She doesn't throw herself at guys. She comes across as a strong, confident, fearless person who is just as comfortable being in a room of men as she is of women. Assuming none of them touch her that is. She rejects all the whinny drama that most other girls are attracted to. Drama that all men quietly hate.

Everything about her personality pulls in what seems like every man around her. In the beginning, it is what attracted me. Then I figured out that part of her is that way to hide her past. At one time I thought her whole act was a facade, but the more I got to know her, the more she proved that theory wrong. She used who she was to create the walls she had put up, but they just enhanced what was already there. Her personality drew me in, but it was her heart, her bravery, her selflessness, that I fell in love with. I meant it every time I told her she was amazing.

She is an addiction to me. Ever since the first time I dreamt about her the second night she was here. Her coming into my room and me silencing that smart mouth of her as she pleasured me on my command. I was a little embarrassed when I had told Paulo about having such a provocative dream about a cadet and we had just laughed it off to my lack of sex at the time. I was hooked even then, whether I wanted to admit it to myself or not.

This addiction has brought her troubled life into mine. Not only that but it seems like ever since I fell for her, my life has become more complicated. I know the timing is nothing more than a coincidence and in a way I am grateful to have here with me to deal with it. She was there for me when my grandfather passed and I know she will be here for me to deal with all the changes that Max is making.

I still don't understand why Max did not keep me in the loop about these changes. I am also pissed that Max is even considering Four for this new leadership position. I have worked my ass off the last few years to prove to Max I was better than Four. That is why he appointed me lead instructor and now it is like a slap in the face that he is making me prove it all over again. I almost wonder if he thinks Dani is too much of distraction for me to take on the new position, but if wants me to prove it again then that is what I am going to do.

I look at my watch. Thirty minutes before we have to be at the stage. I need to get up and shower before I go wake up Dani. I know that she will be up already but I need to feel her lips on mine before we start the day. I hated not being able to show my feelings toward her yesterday and I couldn't hardly sleep without her in my bed last night. I groan at the thought of her in my bed, jumping out of bed quickly I grab my clothes. I want to see her sooner rather than later. _I'm addicted!_

I shower quickly and put on my normal camp uniform. When I get back into the dorm, Four and the other guys are just getting up. "Hurry up guys. Lets not be late on the first day." I command as I finish putting on my boots and head out the door. Four rolls his eyes but I decide not to start my day arguing with him about respect and just head for Dani's cabin. I stop at Tris and Christina's cabin, pounding on their door letting them know we have ten minutes and then continue to Dani's cabin. I knock instead of pound on the door.

Dani answers the door already dressed in her uniform, brushing out her hair and I hear the shower still on in the other room. Marlene must be in there. I push Dani back inside and close the door quickly before pushing her up against it. She looks up at me with an amused smile. "Can I help you with something?" I barely let her finish her question before I kiss her roughly letting her feel my need for her. My body immediately explodes in fire at the contact between us. My hands find her hair as hers find my neck and I smile as she moans into my mouth. I want her so bad right now. She is definitely an addiction.

Marlene chooses that moment to come out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel and I break our kiss. Marlene gives me a pointed look as I glare at her in frustration, but it is probably a good thing she interrupted us anyway before I got carried away. I need to go make sure everyone else is up, I have a job to do. I look back at Dani giving her another quick peck. "Maybe later." I whisper to her before pulling the door open and leave her standing there breathless.

I smile because I know I have the same affect on her as she has on me. I pound on Will and Uriah's door and then quickly go to the last cabin on the end where Jeff and Harrison are. Max and Tori are in the two new cabins that are behind the center two staff cabins, but I know they are already awake. I wait at the last cabin for someone to open up since Jeff isn't use to this. Unfortunately it is Harrison who opens the door only in his boxers. I clearly just woke him up. Part of me is irritated because it could have been one of the girls at the door.

"Wake up calls part of the package?" He questions sarcastically. "Excuse me Harrison. I need Jeff outside in the next eight minutes for our staff workout. Max wanted me to let you know, you are welcome to join us." He just stands there for a minutes seemingly pondering something. "Does everyone participate?"

"It is not a requirement but Max frowns upon lack of participation, so basically yes, all staff participates." He huffs and opens the door a little more before walking away to the bathroom. Jeff is sitting up in bed now. "Be out at the stage by six Jeff." He falls back on his bed. "I highly advise not being late." I say before reaching in and closing the cabin door.

Harrison seems to be kind of a cocky jerk. The way he walked in here yesterday like he was already part of this place didn't sit well with me. He caught all the girls attention right away and several of them seem to catch his. Initially I was happy that Dani wasn't one of them, but that seemed to change throughout the day and it didn't go unnoticed the way her looked at her after he witnessed our race. All I know is he better keep his distance from her.

I am met at the stage by Max. He seems in a good mood this morning. "Morning Max."

"Morning Eric, everyone up?" I nod my head as I notice several of them on there way over to us. "Yes sir. I also invited Harrison like you asked." He gives me a tight smile. "Good. Thank you!" I lean up against the stage waiting for everyone to get over here. I watch Dani from under my eyelashes as I fiddle with a coin in my hand and I feel my lips twitch as I see her and Marlene laughing. I think being back here with everyone will help her feel more comfortable about being around other people again.

I know she is still a little wary about what happened to her. I catch her with that upset sad look on her face when she thinks I am not paying attention. I hate that she feels like that and there is nothing I can do for her. She is use to dealing with bad things on her own and it is taking a long time for her to let me in enough to help her deal with her feelings. I don't like the fact that she tries to just bury deep down. It isn't healthy for her. I know I need to be patient with her but it is still really hard. I am hoping with more people around it will help her open up a little, and as much as I completely hate to admit it, I know her being around Jeff will help too.

I look over and Jeff is following Harrison over to us. _Great._ I was secretly hoping Harrison wouldn't come. Pushing off the stage I take several steps before turning around to face the stage. Dani falls in next to me and I feel better just having her close to me. Max clears his throat getting everyone's attention and we get the day started.

* * *

I have been sitting here staring at this computer screen for the last three hours. Max has Dani, Jeff and Harrison training with Will today to learn about all the software program we use to track the cadets so they will be comfortable using it, which means I have only gotten to see her today while we ate breakfast and lunch. Both times there has been people around so I haven't been able to touch her much and kissing was definitely out of the question.

I can't wait to see her later. Although I know Will was giving her a new laptop today so she can keep up on her online classes, which probably means she is going to need to work on homework tonight. Looking back at my computer screen, I have a lot of the groupings and scheduling done. I had to add in Jeff, Lauren, Dani and Harrison into the scheduling. Rotating them around so that they can all participate in the different classes and work with Tris, Will and each of the instructors. I kept all the scheduling for the instructors the same as last session so that I didn't have to work with Four very much. Once I get the list of cadets, I just need to group them into instructor groups and the computer program will automatically create their schedules based on my programmed criteria.

My phone vibrates suddenly making me jump. Good thing no one else is in the office right now. I pull it out of my back pocket to see who it is and I am surprised to see it was from Casey. I haven't heard from him much the last six months or so, other than me asking him to use his cabin. Normally he has several parties out there and he always invites me. Then again, I usually go to those parties to get laid and he knows I am with Dani now. Shaking my head I open the text and read it.

 **Casey:** Hey man what's up?

Ok, how generic can he be.

 **Eric:** Not much. You?

 **Casey:** Heard you were back in Cle Elum?!

 **Eric:** Yeah we're on prep-week.

 **Casey:** I'm having a party Friday, need you there man.

I had a feeling it was something like that, but I am not sure I want to take Dani to one of his parties. I want to hang out with him but I also don't want Dani hearing about my colorful past. Lynn has tainted her enough with that.

 **Eric:** I donno, we got a lot going on here.

 **Casey:** Seriously?

 **Eric:** Yeah, I just don't know I am up for partying.

 **Casey:** Again SERIOUSLY? Since when do you turn down my parties? Does it have something to do with that new girl of yours?

It isn't her fault and I really don't want him thinking of her like that. She would never stop me from hanging out with friends.

 **Eric:** No, just other shit going on here at camp. Max is changing shit around and it is irritating the crap out of me.

 **Casey:** All the more to come Party. Besides, it is about time I get to meet the woman that manage to tame the ever so sex-crazed, non-committal Eric.

 **Eric:** Fuck Off!

 **Casey:** No! Dude I ain't taking no for an answer. I expect to see you (and her) at my place at 9pm on Friday! Paulo, Zeke and the other guys are already coming.

Shit, he isn't going to stop until I say yes. I don't answer him, but I get another text after a minute.

 **Casey:** Understood?

Dammit. I guess, it could be fun and we have our fights on Friday so it will be nice to go drink afterwards. I really would like Dani to meet him too. He is one of my few good friends. If it gets to be too much, we can always leave.

 **Casey:** Hello?

 **Eric:** Fine!

 **Casey:** That's what I am talking about. I will see you there!

I put my phone down with a sigh. I can only hope Friday goes off with out a hitch, but then again, with Dani, nothing ever seems to go that way. Oh well, she is definitely worth it.

* * *

I have a hard time taking my eyes off Dani as we sit in the court yard stretching before our evening run. Normally I would have done the gym tonight but Dani said she has been sitting all day and really wanted to stretch her legs so I agreed to run again tonight. Paulo, Marlene, Jeff and Harrison decided to join us, while Four and the other guys all head to the gym.

At dinner Dani had seemed a little overwhelmed but she perked up pretty quickly when I told her we were going to go to a party Friday. She is over eager to meet more of my friends. I don't share her enthusiasm but I think it will be good for both of us.

She bends far to the side, stretching her arm out as far as she can over her head exposing her mid section making me groan internally. Her body shape has changed subtly since she came here. Her abs are more defined along with her arms making her seem stronger on the outside to match her attitude. I can't help but to stare at her. Unfortunately, I am not the only one. Harrison is watching both her and Marlene. At some point soon, we are going to have to talk to him about eyeing our women, or maybe I will just wait until Paulo gets sick of it and gives him a piece of his fist. The thought of Paulo punching him in the stomach makes me smile internally. For now I just have had enough of his googling.

"Lets go." I say quickly jumping up off the ground. My irritation must be showing a little because Dani gives me a questioning look but doesn't say anything. She just follows me over to the path and we start running. Dani falls in next to me as she puts her ear buds in and Jeff comes up on her other side.

After a few laps she takes one out and looks sideways at me. "You ok?" She ask hesitantly. Jeff has his ear buds in too so he can't hear us. "Yeah."

"Your lying." She gets that worried on her face. I hate when she does that. "It's nothing babe, I just don't like the way Harrison looks at you." She tries to hide her smile. "Well he can look all he wants, there is only one man I'm looking at and that is all that matters." My heart warms at her words but it stills irritates me. "The feeling is mutual princess." She smiles as she puts her ear buds back in and we finish our run in silence in which she manages to keep up with me the entire run while Jeff fell back with the others halfway through.

As we cool down stretching in the court yard. Jeff jokes about Patrick whining he couldn't come back and that he misses Dani. I don't know if I will ever get use to the fact that her closes friends are guys. Harrison picks up on the fact that Jeff and her are old friends quickly. "Oh so you two knew each other from back in Chicago." He says to her acting all interested.

"Yeah, I am from Chicago. I just moved here a few months ago. I, uh, got into some trouble back home and was a cadet here last session. I did really well here and after I finished, Max kindly offered me a position here along with this fool." She punches Jeff in the arm and he laughs pushing her back as she joins his laughter. I really wish he would keep his hands off her. "That's great. So are you guys, you know, together."

"No," Jeff says quickly as he glances at me. "He is just my best friend. We have known each other for a long time." She says non-chalantly and I see Harrison's eye light up. I was just about to say something when Paulo butts in. "Yeah, I hear her boyfriend is this big, strong, overconfident, pig headed Jerk." Max had told us, we needed to keep our relationships on the downlow so that we can maintain professionalism so I guess that was his way of telling Harrison she was taken without telling him it was me.

"Really Paulo? He is not." He is standing next to her and she kicks him in the side of the leg lightly. I raise my eyebrow at her. Surely part of that statement was true. She looks at me and her face suddenly gets a bit red. I love being able to do that to her. "Ok, well maybe he is big and strong but the rest of that statement is horse shit." We all break out laughing except Harrison who is clueless. _Good you fucking prick._

"Seriously though guys, I have a ton of studying to get done so I got to head inside." Dani says and I am crushed. I knew she was going to do this. _This fucking sucks!_ "Aren't we playing poker tonight?" Paulo whines. "Not in my cabin your not. I haven't been able to get anything done in the last two days, I need some peace and quiet." In other words, that means no us time as well. Paulo looks over to Marlene but she seems to be in agreement with Dani. "Well hey, if you guys don't mind me joining in, we can play in our cabin." Harrison offers.

I really don't want to play with him, but if I am not going to be able to spend some time with Dani, I am going to need something to keep my head busy. Paulo and Jeff both look at me and once Harrison notices them, he looks at me too with a confused look. _Yeah asshole, they look to me for leadership_. I shrug my shoulders. "I guess that works." Max had only said no poker in the dorms and the mess haul. I know it was because he wants it to seem like he has no knowledge of what we do after we are off the clock. I don't think it was because he wanted to hide the actual fact that we play poker from Harrison. That would be pretty impossible since it is one of our only outlets outside of the cadets.

"We'll be there in about thirty minutes." I tell him before turning to walk back toward my dorm. I catch Dani's eyes and she has a slight smirk on her lips so I give her a wink. "Night Dani." I say since she will not be joining us. I will make sure to stop by there later and say goodnight.

* * *

Marlene causes us to arrive at Jeff and Harrison's cabin a little over thirty minutes later since she took forever to meet us out front of her cabin. I didn't go in to get her because then I would be too tempted to stay. As we walk in the guys are sitting at the table talking with none other than Max.

Well this is going to be interesting. At least Max seems to be in a good mood. "Hey guys, hope you don't mind me joining you." Max stays to us as we come in. Everyone else shrugs at him and I can't even believe he is even asking. "It's your camp Max." I tell him and sit down next to him.

Harrison goes over to his fridge and pulls out some beers. He goes to hand one to me but I look to Max first. I don't know how he feels about this. He shrugs at me so I accept the beer and he hands one to Paulo and Marlene. Max is glaring at Jeff as he goes to accept one but then he has second thoughts and tells Harrison no. _Wise choice kid._

Marlene excuses herself pulling Jeff out with her to go get some more chairs.

"So Max, I am really liking the set up you got here. It seems like you have some top notch employees." Max's face turns up showing his pride. "Yeah they are a really great bunch."

"Do you think I could convince you to take a few more of them off your hands? I see potential in several of your younger ones." _Dick._ I know exactly who he is talking about and apparently so does Max because he speaks up before I can say anything. "No way Harrison, I am already giving Tori up. I refuse to let you take my new recruits. Besides, something tells me they have reasons to stay." Max doesn't look at me but I see Paulo discretely glance in my direction.

"I don't know Max. Dani and Jeff are from Chicago, are you sure they wouldn't like to be more close to home." I clinch my fist under the table. "Sorry Harrison. No more picking off my staff." Max tells him a little more serious.

"Ok, ok. I get it man. Really though, thanks for letting me sit in for the session. I really do appreciate it. I promise I will stop trying to take your staff away." Him and Max laugh as Marlene and Jeff walk back in with a few more chairs and everyone sits down to play.

This fucker is really pissing me off. He just confirmed what I already knew. _Always attracting attention._ I will have to watch her closely when he is around. It isn't that I don't trust her, I don't trust him!

* * *

 **So what do you guys think. Please let me know how you feel about these developments. All reviews and comments welcome. Until next time!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey, Hey everyone. I have another chapter for you. I would have finished it sooner but trying to write and watch the Seahawk's game wasn't working too well! Anyway, it turned out to be way longer than I intended because I kept adding in more and more. I am sure you guys don't mine. I want to give a big shout out to all my reviewer, I love you all! Hope you guys like it. Enjoy!**

This story is rated M/MA for Lemons, language and situations. Not appropriate for younger readers!

Disclaimer: All divergent characters belong to Veronica Roth, all original characters are mine. V.R. characters look like those in the movie. Hope you all enjoy, reviews and thoughts are welcome.

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

 _(Friday, November 20th)_

"Eric seems like a really good teacher." Harrison says to me as we sit in the office going over the new cadets. I just nod my head as I stare at my information packets. It is our job to know them all by name and face by the time they arrive. This week has just flown by. I have been so busy between camp stuff, training with Eric and trying to keep up with my schooling.

Harrison, Jeff and I have been stuck together for a good portion of the week training on all the different stuff. It has been great hanging out with Jeff again and I am really starting to get along with Harrison. He is a little older than Eric but it can't be by much. He has told me about the camp he inherited from his mother back in the suburbs of Chicago. He explained that this new camp is a good opportunity since the old camp is pretty run down and that the state is co-signing the loan to renovate it. Something he wouldn't have had the ability to do otherwise.

He seems really sweet and is pretty funny. He has been joining us for workouts and is in excellent shape which almost rivals Eric. Eric has been working out with me in the evening and we have been working on a lot of boxing techniques. He teaches Jeff too, but I think that is more for my benefit. Eric has managed to keep his hands off me most of the time but I know as the week has gone on, it has gotten harder and harder. We have not been able to have any alone time since we got here and it's driving us both nuts. I have really wanted to spend time with him but I really have been trying to get all my school work done and ahead a little so that we can go out Friday.

Eric told me a few days ago that we had been invited to his friends cabin for a party. The same cabin he took me to when I was a cadet. I figured it would be a good time to spend some time with Eric before the cadets get here and at least away from camp, we can actually be together. Hopefully we can have some actual alone time whether it be at the party or after. I have been dying to be intimate with him but we just haven't had the time, or at least I haven't, but I want to do good. I want to show Max that putting faith in me to do all this was the right choice. I want someone to finally have a reason to be proud of me.

"You know that wasn't very convincing." I look over to him. We are the only ones in here right now. Jeff was helping the other guys clean up the trails and I was not allowed to help. Max has specifically scheduled all things this week so couples were not together.

"No he really is a good teacher. I learned a lot from him back when I was a cadet and I guess he feels a need to continue to teach me and Jeff." I smile at the thought that he has taught me a lot more then just stuff at camp, but that is totally not appropriate for this conversation. "So you really haven't said much about your boyfriend other than the other night when everyone else brought him up." I shrug my shoulders. It really is because I am not suppose to talk about it, if I could I would, trust me. He gets a smirk on his face. "So do you really have a boyfriend, or do you just tell people that so guys don't hit on you?" _Did he really go there?_ "Yes I really have a boyfriend! I don't talk about him because Max expects us to be professional at all times and that includes not bringing our personal relationships to work. If you haven't noticed, most of us don't talk about our significant others even though many of us have them." He still looks a little unconvinced.

"Does he live back in Chicago?" I look back down at my papers. It is almost funny that he doesn't realize it is Eric. Anyone who watches Eric would see that he looks at me all the time. We spend a lot of time together as well when we are not working. Then again, so do Jeff and I, only we don't seem so tense around each other. "No, he lives around here."

"So you haven't been with him for very long?" I look back up at him wondering how he figured that out. "No, we started dating a few months ago. Right after my eighteenth birthday." Actually it was basically the night of my eighteenth birthday. The night Eric and I spent sitting under the stars. I feel my face flush at the thought of that night. It seems like it was so long ago, it is amazing it really has only been a few months. "I am sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable." He says to me and I realize he must think his questioning made be blush. "No it's fine, we just really aren't suppose to talk about those things."

"You and Jeff seem really close. It's not him is it?" I chuckle at the thought because it isn't the first time someone has thought that. "No Jeff is just a good friend of mine. I have known him for long time." I really don't want to talk about me any more. "So what about you, some special girl waiting for you in Chicago?" His lips press in a line, obviously he doesn't like it either. "No, I really haven't had a girlfriend for the last few years." This news surprises me. He is hot, how can he not have a girlfriend. "Really, that is really surprising."

"Why is that exactly?" He questions with a dazzling smile. "Well you seem to be doing good for yourself, your sweet and your um..." I can't finish my sentence. "I'm what." I feel my face get flushed. "Your um, you know, you look really good." He laughs, "Is that your way of telling me I'm hot?" I just glare at him making him laugh again. "It's ok, you don't have to say it. You know you aren't to bad looking yourself. Your boyfriend is a lucky man." I look away and smile because I'm not the lucky one, he is.

We sit in silence for another minute before he speaks up again. "I am starving and I smell food. Should we go to dinner?" I look down my clock and it is pretty much dinner time. I am surprised the guys aren't back yet. "Sure." I say standing up and stretching my arms above my head. My body is sore from sitting for the last few hours. Harrison gets up too leaving his folders scatter while I put mine in a neat pile and opens the door for me.

We walk over to the mess haul and Harrison is right, the food smells delicious. Chris and Tris are setting out the food on the bar so I go over to help and Harrison follows me. We finish setting out the food and when I look at my clock, dinner officially started five minutes ago. I am about to get worried when all the guys come walking into the haul. Uriah and Zeke are both more dirty than the others.

"What did you guys do this time?" I ask and Jeff starts laughing. "Zeke said something to piss off Uriah." Jeff says trying not to laugh again. That sounds typical. "And what was that?" Harrison ask him. "That he was a pansycake for whining about breaking up with his girlfriend."

"It has been almost two months, he needs to get over already." Zeke says and Uriah glares at him. "I am sorry Uriah, I hadn't heard you and Lauren broke up." I say to him. That makes sense to why she agreed to go to Chicago.

"Lauren, as in the Lauren that works here?" Harrison ask and Eric sends me a cold glare. _Oops_. "Yeah that's her." Uriah answers him in a sulking tone. "Dude I said enough whining or I am going to throw you in the river." Zeke scolds him as he punches him in the arm and we laugh at him. "Zeke leave him be." I say standing up for him since no one else is going to. I grab his arm and pull him toward the food. "Come on Uri, lets eat before I am force to kick your brother's ass." I hear some of the guys snicker. "Keep dreaming Dani." Zeke yells behind me. "I don't know Zeke, I would be careful. I think she might be a good match for you." Four says to Zeke as he punches his arm and I see Eric trying not to smile. "Maybe we will find out tonight!" I should over my shoulder and Uri and I start dishing up our food.

I sit down and next to Uri and Eric sits on my other side while Harrison sits across from me. "So how does this fighting thing work tonight?" Harrison ask and I am just as interested as he is. Eric doesn't look at him but starts talking. "We split everyone in two groups, lower weight class and upper weight class. The names go into a jar and two are drawn out. Fights can either be boxing style or MMA, which ever both opponents agree on. Winner of each round gets a $100 bonus and you can fight in up to two rounds."

"You only split it by weight, not gender?" He looks at me and then at Chris who is sitting on the other side of Uri. Eric shakes his head. "No, just like when camp starts, we don't differentiate from gender. We believe a woman can be just as strong as a men. But we do believe in fair play which is why it is split up by weight class. You and Max, if you guys fight, Four, Zeke, Paulo and I will be in the upper weight class. Will, Uriah, Jeff and the woman will all be in the lower weight class." Eric explains.

"That is a little insulting." Jeff say who is sitting across from Chris. Eric looks up at him and I see a ghost of a smile tug at his lips. "Your right, after Dani kicked Paulo's ass last session, maybe she should be moved up a class." Eric tells him and Harrison almost spits out his food. "Fuck off dude." Paulo complains and Harrison turns to look at him. "Seriously, she kicked your ass?"

Everyone starts laughing and I try to hold mine it. "She didn't kick my ass. She had a major adrenaline rush and caught me off guard. She's may be stronger than she looks but she is still a little runt."

"Hey! Don't take it out on me." I tell him throwing my biscuit at him. "I didn't say a thing. Pick on them." He laughs throwing it back at me. I look over at Jeff and he isn't laughing. He is looking at me nervously. I guess he didn't see it either, but he knows exactly what we are talking about. When he notices I am looking at him he smiles and shakes himself out of the daze he is in. The others are still laughing at the conversation and I feel Eric squeeze my leg under the table. I look over and I see the nervousness in his eyes, like he is worried about what I am thinking. I smile up at him and go back to my food trying to ignore the circumstances behind the conversation.

"Oh and on that note, just a word of advise Harrison. This one doesn't like to be touched." Uri says bring me back out of my bubble as he messes up my hair and I immediately punch him in the arm a little harder than I intended to. "OUCH." He says loudly and everyone laughs again. Max and Tori walk just as I hit Uri.

"Dani, hands to yourself." Max says scolding me. "Um, sorry Max. Someone else hasn't learned to keep his hands to himself." I sulk and he looks over to Uri. "Uriah, you better be careful. You don't want to end up like Paulo!" Everyone bust out laughing again. "Seriously Max, come on." Paulo whines again as he glances at me. I throw my hands up in defense. _I didn't say it._ I am glad to see that Jeff joined in the laughing as well. Max and Tori dish up their dinner before sitting down at the table.

Max seems a little more relax compared to the rest of the week. I wonder if he is always so up tight or if it is because Harrison is here. He wasn't this way the week after the cadets left. He did make sure we stayed professional during the day but he seems a little more stressed this week.

"Everyone looking forward to tonight?" Max ask and everyone quiets down a little, nodding their heads. "Harrison, you joining the fights tonight?"

"Hell yeah, looking forward to it. You?" He laughs. "Yep, I don't always but it has been a stressful week so I think it will do me some good." Harrison looks at Max a little more serious. "So you really think letting these guys box it out is helpful?"

"Yes, it is good fun. I don't let any of the fights get out of control and we have Marlene here just in case. No one is required to fight and it really seems to boost moral right before we settle down into the long haul, not to mention It is a healthy outlet for those of them that struggle with anger issues." I can't help but smile as does several other people. Harrison nods his head. "You sure do have a dynamic set up here."

"It's really about knowing what is needed to keep everyone cohesive. I try to keep things as professional as possible but let them have a little fun too." Harrison looks over at Tris who has developed a bit of a roundness in her stomach to the point you can tell she is clearly pregnant. "What about relationships that build between employees?"

"It happens and I don't necessarily discourage it but we have strict rules on how staff conduct themselves. If they happen to develop relationships between each other, they are still expected to stay professional at all times, especially once the cadets get here. I also make it a point to split up any couple when necessary to make sure the cadets are the number one priority at all times." Harrison shakes his head agreeing with Max's words. Looking around most of us have smirks on our faces. "What about staff members and cadets?" I force myself not to look up and I feel Eric tense next to me.

Max takes a deep breath. _Shit._ "Well technically I don't have rules against it but I do discourage it, and I definitely don't allow anything illegal." I look up to Harrison through my eyelashes and see his eyes pull together. "Why wouldn't you make rules against it?" He ask curiously. "Well, in very rare circumstances, I have found it can actually turn out to be a good thing." His lip turns up slightly and it seems like everyone has stopped talking to listen to Max. "So it has happened before?" He looks around at everyone and I swear everyone is looking down at their food with a slight smirk on their faces. "Yes." Is all Max says. "And it turned out ok?" I hold in my breath feeling as if it was him asking my father if he approves.

"I think it turned out to be a blessing to both of them." I can't help but smile and I sense Eric's whole body relax.

* * *

"Alright, first fight Chris and Marlene." Max bellows as he reads the names on the two pieces of paper. They both step up on the mat and put on gloves. I am getting more and more excited as Chris says they agree on MMA style fight. When they are both ready, Max begins the fight.

They circle around each other both testing each other, sending punches and kicks here and there. Marlene seems more strong but Chris is quick. After a few minutes, Chris is able to knock Marlene off her feet by sweeping her legs out from under her. Chris pounces on top of her sending several hits to her sides. On the third hit, Marlene catches Chris's hand and twist her arm around. Within seconds, Marlene is able to whip her body around and lock her in a choke hold. Chris ends up tapping out and Max calls the fight. Chris looks a little smug but they both get up and give each other a hug.

Max goes to the other bowl and draws out two pieces of paper. "Zeke and Paulo." They get up step up to the mat and they both look over excited. "Rematch time!" Zeke says and I turn to Eric with a questioning look. "They fought last session and Zeke lost." I am surprised when they choose boxing style, I figured Zeke more of a mixed martial arts kind of guy. They begin and it is a pretty good match up of back and forth. Both get in some pretty good punches but then Paulo makes the perfect connection and Zeke goes down dazed, making Max call the fight. Paulo picks Zeke up and helps him over to the side, laughing at him for being so cocky. Marlene automatically goes over to check him out.

"Dani and Uriah." I turn back to the ring as Max calls out my name. In an instant both Eric and Jeff are in front of me. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Jeff ask me. "You can still back out." He adds. "Have a little faith in me Jeff, geez." Eric's look is cold and I know he doesn't like this any more than Jeff, but he knows better than to question my strength. "I will be fine boys!" I tell them as I start to push past them. Eric grabs my arm. "He jumps around a lot, let him tire himself out and then attack and don't let up until he goes down." I nod slightly to him and pull away to step up on the mat. "Boxing!" I say to Uriah quickly because I know there is no way I will be able to do MMA style. He shrugs his shoulders and we put our gloves on. He looks worriedly between Eric and I as we go to shake hands before we start our fight.

I lean in close to him. "I promise, he will not touch you." I take a few steps back and speak up. "Don't go easy on me Uriah! I want to say I won this fair and square." I smile at him stretching my neck out, moving my head from side to side. He narrows his eyes at me. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you, too bad." I say to him trying to egg him on and I hear a bunch of people chuckle around us. "Uriah, if you let her beat you, I will never let you live it down." Zeke shouts at him and I see a determined look take over the worried look on his face. _Good_. Now this should be a good fight. He starts dancing around on his toes moving back and forth.

I slowly circle but not with the bouncing, keeping Eric's advise in my head. He makes the first move and tries to hit me in the face but I bring my hand blocking his fist to the side and move out of his way. He quickly gets back into stance bouncing around. I want to laugh because he looks like a damn bobble head. He tries again a second time and then a third. I narrowly miss the last one and I can see he is trying to find my weakness. I have heard Eric tell me countless times about finding the weakness. Uri goes a third time but goes down toward my side and I am not quick enough. He gets me right in the ribs with a solid jab causing me to lose my breath momentarily. I jump to the side out of his reach again. "Come on Dani, aren't you going to fight back?" Uriah says with a cocky smile, but I am also smiling because I noticed that when he went for the low jab, he left his face wide open.

We start circling again. I find my rhythm as I watch him closely. He swings wide for my jaw and I am able to duck and lay a hard one into his stomach making him step back. "Christ!" He says as he grabs his stomach. I see several of the guys standing around the mats with smiles on their faces but Eric's face is a stone wall as he tries to hide all emotions. I start get back into positions and I can see Uriah isn't quite as bouncy as he has been. I decide to try to go on offense to see what I can do but Uriah blocks my first punch and then when I swing in again he takes one from my book and gets me in the stomach hard knocking the wind out of me.

I stumble back just as Uriah throws another to my face and it connects with my chin but not hard because I was already moving back. "Fuck." I groan. Out of the corner of my eye I see Jeff step in front of Eric and I try to laugh it off. "Giving up Dani." Uriah ask me with way to much confidence. "You kidding me. You hit like a girl." I tell him getting a laugh out of a few people. We set up again and we both get completely serious. Uriah is slowing down more, his bouncing around so excessively is starting to take a toll on him, especially since he is not big on running. He has no endurance. We punch back and forth a few time, both blocking each other.

"You know, we always knew that thing with Paulo was a fluke!" He taunts and it pisses me off. I need to draw him in and end this. I pull my arm up a little exposing my side hoping he takes the bait and he does. He punches at me with his right arm to my side and I shoot my left hand at his face just before he gets me in my ribs and I connect squarely to his jaw causing him to momentarily be stunned letting down his guard, so I swing out around with my right with all my strength and hit him hard on the side of his face. He goes down and I grab my side that he had just hit and stand a little stunned that I just knocked him down. Everyone is momentarily quiet.

Then whole gym erupts in cheers and laughter as Max calls the fight. I try to help Uriah get back up. He still looks a little dazed but he shrugs me off him and heads off the mats telling me he is ok. Paulo runs up to me and gives me a bear hug, but releases me quickly and then Jeff does the same. I am so high on adrenaline right now I don't even care. Eric comes up to me trying to hide his smile but fails miserably. "Nice combo." He says giving me a side hug and I smile even wider. "Thanks, I guess all that training finally paid off."

I am on cloud nine as Max calls out Eric and Four's names. I silently wonder if that was fixed somehow. That is a dream match up for Eric. Uriah steps up next to me as soon as Eric leaves my side looking all glum. I nudge him with my shoulder. "You ok there Tigger." He looks at me confused. "You know, jumping around like that, it reminds me of Tigger, you know Whinny the Pooh. You should really cut that down a little because it only wears you out." He huffs. "Yeah, I will keep that in mind."

"Still friends?" I ask as Eric and Four start boxing. I turn to look at Uriah with a raised eyebrow when he doesn't answer and he finally smiles. "Yeah of course, lets just keep this on the D.L." I turn the rest of the way toward give him a quick hug as I laugh and move back quickly before is closeness starts to bother me. "I can promise you _I_ won't say anything. If I was you, I would be more worried about your brother."

I turn back to the current fight and wince a little as I see Four connect a punch to Eric's face. They continue to go back and forth for several minutes. Each landing a few blows. Even though Four is smaller, he sure is holding his own. They are pretty evenly matched. Eric lands another hard one to Four's ribs causing him to grunt loudly. I see Eric's confidence growing by the second as he taunts Four. He really shouldn't do that, it will cause him to fight harder, just like I did.

As if reading my thought, Four goes for a combo shots, landing the second shot to Eric's ribs. _Come on Eric!_ I notice Harrison move to my side, I am sure to congratulate me. He leans a little closer to me and I try to keep calm at his closeness. "I have to say, that was impressive." Another wide grin crosses my face. "Well what can I say? I have a good teacher." I say watching Eric and he glances at me for a moment giving Four a chance to connect one to his kidney. I see Eric get irritated and before Four can get back into his stance Eric just goes at him with a Four punch combo landing the last one right to his nose. Blood starts streaming out of his nose as he stumbles and falls to one knee. Max calls the fight naming Eric the winner.

* * *

I get out of the car and go to stand next to Eric. There is loud music coming from the house and a ton of cars everywhere. Last time I was here, it was so quiet, peaceful and warm! I am already regretting letting Marlene talk me into wearing this dress. It is totally cute. It comes just above my knees and clings to my lower body while the top hangs loosely, but the material is thin and it is cold out here.

Eric takes my hand and pulls me tightly to him. "I have missed you." He brings his lips down to mine and warmth shoots through my body when he makes contact with my lips. His lips move quickly over mine and I instantly feel the wetness between my legs. "I have missed this." I tell him as we pull back a little.

"Are you guys going to actually make it into the party?" Paulo questions us as they get out of the other car we brought. Eric looks back at me. "Tempting but don't think she would be interested in giving these people a show." I hum because really, right now I am sure I wouldn't care. He bites the inside of his cheek before smirking at me. Maybe he is thinking the same thing. I hear Jeff say something but I don't pay attention to what it is.

Eric steps to the side wrapping his arm around me. "Ok, lets go inside." We fall in line behind Paulo and Marlene while, Uriah, Jeff, Zeke, Four and Tris trail behind us. Will and Christina decided to stay back at the camp since Max, Harrison and Tori were going to go out for drinks. I think they needed some alone time themselves.

As we get inside people start to greet the guys. This obviously isn't the first time they have been here. There are people everywhere but Eric and Paulo head straight for the kitchen. I see a guy in his mid-twenties setting up a line of shots and several females standing around him. He says something I can't quite catch over the loud music and him and the four girls all take the shots he poured.

"Casey my man!" Paulo shouts out and the guy turns toward Paulo's voice. "Oh shit, you guys made it." He says sounding like he has already had a few to drink. He greets Paulo and then turns to us. "Eric, man, glad you showed up." He talks to Eric but doesn't take his eyes off me. "Case, this is Danielle. Danielle, this is my good friend Casey. He's the one that owns this place." I smile at him and he shakes his hand before sending a smile at Eric. "Well it is a pleasure to finally meet you. What is mine is yours, make your self at home." He tells me and I blush as his eyebrows jump up and down toward Eric.

Eric introduces Jeff and then Casey says hello to Four and Tris. Tris stiffens a little when Casey puts his hand on her stomach, congratulating them on the pregnancy. "Alright, lets do a round of shots and then you guys can enjoy the party." He pours a bunch more shots and we stand around. "Here's to a good time tonight." He says raising his shot and we all follow as he pours it down his throat.

Everyone seems to scatter off but Casey doesn't let Eric and I leave just yet. He grabs my hand pulling me closer to him and I hold tightly to Eric bringing him with me. "Wait, you cannot go just yet. What kind of host would I be if I didn't give you another shot to my main man and his woman." He pours more shots and I just look at Eric who is shaking his head. "Here is to the woman who managed to tame the untamable man." He announces and I look to Eric again who gives Casey an irritated look before throwing back his shot. I drink mine quickly not sure of what to make of that comment. The alcohol burns going down but the few shots has warmed me up a little.

Casey leans in and gives me a quick kiss on the cheek trying to hide the fact that he was passing something to Eric. "Have a good time kiddies!" He says as he pulls away and turns to join his other party guest. "Sorry, he is a little crazy." Eric tells me and I just shrug my shoulders. He grabs two beers from big bucket on the counter and opens one before handing it to me. "So what was that all about?" I ask him wanting to know what Casey gave him.

He gives me a dark look before whispering in my ear. "You'll find out later." He takes a drink of his beer and grabs my hand. "Come on, dance with me." He pulls me over to where a bunch of people are dancing to the loud music. I am careful to try not to touch any of them. As we reach the center of the room Eric starts moving around keeping his hands on me and I just follow his lead. I never knew he could dance like this. _Damn he is good at it._ The rest of the room starts to fall away from us until I can only see him. Feeling him moving against me is absolutely memorizing.

I turn my back to him and move my body against him as he starts kissing my shoulder and rubbing his hands across my stomach. _Fuck!_ He is making me so hot. Then I feel him harden against me. Obviously the feel is mutual. I grab his neck and pull his head down so I can kiss him and it instantly turns lustful as he pulls me tighter back against him so his hardness is digging into my back. I moan into his mouth feeling his need for me.

He breaks out kiss. "I can't wait any longer." He releases me and starts pulling me through the house before I can ask him what he is talking about. We go upstairs and stop outside a room. The same room. He pulls out a key and unlocks the door as I look at him confused, but he doesn't give me time to ask where he got it.

Pulling me into the room he quickly shuts it and locks it before his lips are on mine again. "I need you babe." He mumbles on my lips. There is such yearning in his voice. "I need you too Eric." His lips press against mine once more as he pins me up against the wall with his body. His fingers slide my thong to the side and they enter me quickly causing another moan to escape me. "Fuck you are so wet for me already." He moves his fingers in and out of me quickly as his lips attack my neck.

Circling his thumb around my bundle of nerves, it only takes a few minutes before I am teetering on the edge. All of the sudden he pulls his fingers out of me and undoes his pants quickly. He reaches down pulling my leg up around him and rips the lacey material of my underwear before he slams into me. "Fuck!" He groans loudly resting his forehead on mine. His words mirroring my thoughts.

As he starts to move in and out of me, I quickly get lost in his touch. I have missed feeling him in me. Missed feeling his hands and lips on me, this is what I have been yearning for all week. "Faster baby." I moan needing to feel more of him. He grabs my other thigh picking me up and I wrap my legs around him. I feel him move us and he lays be back onto the bed but he remains standing. I feel the pressure of him push up on my walls and it feels amazing as he resumes moving in and out of me. His speed picks up just as I requested and his thrust get rough as he closer to his release. I am right at the edge. He moans my name letting me know he is almost there and hearing it sends me over the edge, as I scream out his name. He continues thrusting in me extending my orgasm before he finally lets go too.

As we both come down from our high, the music makes it way back in my ears and I am suddenly grateful that it would have covered up our noises. "A little presumptuous your friend is." I tell him as he straightens up to button his pants back up. "What do you mean?"

"He gave you that key when he kissed me on the cheek." A flash of irritation crosses his face. "Yeah, he better not do that again and no he didn't presume anything. I text him earlier and asked him for it." He leans down with his adorable smirk. "Like I said, I needed you. I have been dreaming about doing that all week." He kisses me softly cupping his hand around my face. I smile at him. He can be so freaking cute sometimes.

"I guess we need to find some time to be alone more often." He says sourly, but I am not sure why he has had such a change in mood. I question him with my eyes and he looks down messing with his clothes. "Or I guess I should say, maybe you could find some time to be alone with me." I stand up putting my hand on his chest making him stop straightening his clothes and look at me. "Hey, I just have a lot on my plate right now. Please try to be understanding." I am not trying to push him away, I have just been really busy. He purses his lips. "I know, just don't forget, I would like some of your attention too." He is so serious. It is obvious that he feels put out by my lack of attention on him and I wish he didn't feel that way. "Sorry babe, I will try to make more time for us okay." His lips press in a line. "Sorry, I just miss you is all."

"I know and now that things are getting settled down, I promise to kick Marlene out and spend some time with you!" I kiss him and he finally smiles. I feel something tickling the inside of my thigh and I remember he tore my underwear. I glare up at him. "What?" He looks at me concerned. "You know what!" I tell him as I step back and remove what's left of my underwear. He grins at me. "Oh yeah. Sorry about that. I guess I got a little carried away."

"Um-hmm." I pull him back to me and tuck them in his pocket since I don't have a purse with me. "Come on lover boy, lets go back to the party before they send a search party." I give him one last kiss and grab his hand.

* * *

I laugh, sitting with my legs crossed on one of the counters drinking a beer with Jeff and a few other guys that are around me. Sean and Eddie showed up and I remembered them from the day Eric took me out for lunch when I was a cadet. Sean is telling us about some of the wild parties that had gone on at the cabin. I have been hearing a lot about Eric's 'wild side' but I just try to ignore it other woman comments because it's his past. Sean has told me about some crazy dares he has gotten Eric to do and I have to admit some of them were pretty funny, like climbing a tree naked. I can just imagine him looking like Tarzan.

I look over to Eric who is now on the other side of the kitchen taking more shots with Paulo and Casey. He has gotten pretty drunk in just a few hours but he seems happy and relaxed which is rare for him when we are around other people. Another girl comes up from behind him and puts her arms around him, but he pulls away quickly and says hi giving her a kiss on the cheek before moving out of her reach. It is probably a good thing I am not a jealous person and he is clearly not interested in her like that.

I turn back to Casey talking and squirm because I really have to pee. I need to get down but I have high heels. I scoot to the edge of the counter and go to let myself down but suddenly Sean is in front of me grabbing under my arms and helps me down carefully. I freeze at his touch and my feet hit the ground. "Wouldn't want you to ruin your shoes there." He says playfully obviously trying to be a gentleman and goes to step back but Eric is behind him. _Shit._ He pushes him to the side slightly and grabs my hand.

"Come on lets go." He tells me and starts pulling me away. _What the hell?_ "Eric, what is your problem."

"His hands on you is my problem." _Really?_ "Eric he just helped me down off the counter, no reason to get all worked up."

"Whatever, I didn't like it. Were going." He is clearly drunk and I don't want to fight even though he is being ridiculous. I follow him out to the car and he downs the rest of the beer in his hand before opening the passenger door. I look up at him my eyes pulling together. I know he isn't planning on driving. "Get in." He commands and I really don't like his tone. "Give me the keys, I will drive." I say rolling my eyes and reaching for the keys in his hands but he pulls his hand away. "I am fine, just get in."

I take a deep breath. I am not going to let him drive like this. "Eric give me the keys, you have had way to much to drink." I put my hand expecting him to give them to me. "Stop talking to me like I am a fucking child." He say coldly and he is really starting to irritate the shit out of me. Paulo and a few others have made their way out to the front of the house. "Then stop acting like one and give me the damn keys so we can go." I say quietly not wanting the others hear me.

"Get in the fucking car Dani." He shouts at me and I am instantly pissed. "Don't you fucking yell at me, what the hell is your problem Eric."

"My fucking problem is you need to do as you are told." My hand flies up before I realize what I am doing and I feel the sting as I slap him hard in the face. "I am not your fucking cadet that you can command around at will." The anger leaves his face and he reaches for my hand, but I pull away from him. "Don't fucking touch me. You want to be a fucking idiot, fine, I will walk back." He looks down.

I walk over to Paulo who has made his way close to us, probably to jump in the middle if it got to heated. "You fucking talk to him since my opinion doesn't seem to be for shit. If he drives home like that, I will personally kick your ass. I am going home." I turn away. "Um, I will give you a ride back." Casey says looking at me concerned. I want to laugh, at least someone is concerned. "Like fucking hell you will." Eric growls. "She isn't fucking leaving here with you."

I am so mad and I have had enough of his overpowering jealousy. "You know what, it isn't your choice. Casey, can you please take me back to the camp?"

"Dani don't-" I glare at him as I cut him off.

"I swear Eric if you try to order me around one more fucking time..." I don't finish my sentence because even though I am seething right now, I would never be able to get those next few words out of my mouth. "Casey can we please go now."

"She better get home safe or your ass is mine." Paulo tells Casey and now he looks nervous. "Of course man." I head toward the car Casey is walking to and I see Eric start to walk forward but Paulo steps in front of him and starts talking to him really quietly.

Casey starts up the car and goes to pull out. I watch as Eric throws his empty beer bottle at the tree. "Fuuuuuck!" He screams and I turn looking down at my lap.

"Christ woman, you got some fucking guts." Casey says quietly. "What am I suppose to just let him walk all over me?" I snap.

"No, no. He is just, you know, scary and you just stood up to him like you were twice his size." Well Eric doesn't scare me. I know he would never hurt me and I sure in hell was not going to just sit there and let him talk to me like that. I know he is use to getting whatever he wants because he is so damn intimidating but I refuse to be that little cowering girl that lets herself be disrespected. "You did the right thing though. He was way to drunk to drive and you don't deserved to be talked to like that." I look toward the window at the blackness. "I know." I say quietly and a single tear rolls down my cheek as I realize this was the first time we have ever really fought. My hands begin to shake and I still feel the sting on my hand.

"Just let him sleep it off, I'm sure he'll be apologizing at your feet in the morning." I just nod because I don't want to talk anymore.

We pull up to the camp and I thank him for the ride. The camp is quiet as I walk through it. It feels empty, just like the feeling in my chest. I feel more tears beginning to fall down my cheeks, I feel bad for leaving him there but I know this wasn't my fault. He needs to stop trying to be so controlling. But it still hurts, I don't like being apart from him and I really don't like fighting with him.

When I get into the cabin I shower quickly and change into my night shorts and a cami. I hear a knock at the door as I am brushing my hair out about to go get in bed. _Please don't be Eric._ I am not ready to face him. I go and open the door to find Jeff. "Hey you okay?" He ask.

"Yeah, I am just tired and it has been a long day." His irritation is clear on his face. "I heard you and Eric got into an argument."

"Is he here?" My heart leaps betraying my thoughts. I really want to know he got home safe. "No, Paulo and Casey were trying to calm him down when we left, but Paulo got the keys from him. Tris, Four and I snuck out." That's good at least. Paulo seems to be good with him when he is drunk. _Not as good as you_. My subconscious butts in. "Alrighty then. I guess I will see you in the morning." He tells me and I nod as he walks away.

I sit down on the couch and look out the window. _I fucking hate this_. I just want him to be home holding me in his arms. My tears return and I grab the couch pillow hugging it tightly to me as I cry myself to sleep.

* * *

 **Well, nothing is ever perfect in paradise. Eric can't be all lovely all the time and Dani needed to show him that she is not going to let him be a controlling jerk. Hopefully he gets the point now. Please let me know what you guys think. All comments and reviews welcome...The next chapter is already in the works so hopefully it will be up soon. Until next time!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey Everyone! I am so excited that this story already has 5k views, 100 reviews and 50 followers. You are all the absolute best!**

 **I have another chapter for you already. To be honest, I wrote the first half of this chapter before I wrote the last one because I knew where I wanted it to end up and not so sure on how to get there. So I hope you like it. Enjoy!**

This story is rated M/MA for Lemons, language and situations. Not appropriate for younger readers!

Disclaimer: All divergent characters belong to Veronica Roth, all original characters are mine. V.R. characters look like those in the movie. Hope you all enjoy, reviews and thoughts are welcome.

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

 _(Saturday, November 21st)_

" _NO!_ "

I scream waking myself up. I am covered in sweat and still trying to catch my breath. Looking over, Marlene still isn't in her bed. _Thank goodness_. I always found having nightmares as a little embarrassing. To me, it is a little childish that I still have them after all these years.

I try to rub the creepy feeling of my nightmare off my arms and legs, but it is hard to forget. I want to go sleep in bed with Eric, but if Marlene isn't back yet then he must not be back yet either. The red light coming from the nightstand says it's two in the morning so I have only been sleeping an hour. I wonder how late they are going to stay out.

Then again, after our argument, I am not sure if I really do want to see him right now. That leaves me two options, I can try to go back to bed on my own which probably won't work or I can go see Jeff.

After a moment of hesitation, I slide my shoes on and head to Jeff's cabin. Eric will probably be pissed but really I don't care right now. If he wasn't such an ass, I would have stayed at the party with him and I wouldn't have went to bed pissed off.

It is freezing outside and I really wish I would have grabbed my sweater to put over my sleeping shorts and cami. When I get to the door I knock softly. _Please Jeff answer the door_.

My thought is cut off as Harrison opens the door in only his boxers. _"_ Oh...ahh _" Christ!_ I look down at the ground quickly trying to avoid looking at his next to perfect physique. "Can I help you with something?" He ask sleepily. I look up to see him l rest his forearm on the door and raise his eyebrow at me. He really needs to take that smirk off his face. Then again, I am standing at his door in the middle of the night wearing next to nothing when the temperature is probably barely above freezing.

"Dani?" I hear Jeff's voice behind him and Harrison opens the door wider so I can see him but doesn't take his hand arm off the door. "Um..." _Why do I feel so weird with this?_ It has to be the fact that Harrison is standing here. "Come here." Jeff says as he sits up putting a pillow in his lap. Harrison raises an eyebrow at me again. I duck under his arm and go over to Jeff crawling into his bed.

Harrison shuts the door and sits down on his bed. "You ok? Did something happen?" He ask me with concern in his eyes. "Yeah, I just, um, I had a nightmare." I stutter quietly. A shutter runs through my body and I am not sure if it was from the cold or the thought of my dream. I pulling the covers over my shoulders tightly like it is shielding me from everything including his questioning. I hate feeling weak, I hate the fact that I feel the need to seek out comfort, and I really hate that I just had to admit that.

Jeff starts stroking my hair and Harrison looks up to Jeff with question in his eyes. His look turns to confusion and then he lays down without another word. I am grateful that he is dropping it because I don't want to talk about it, not with Jeff and definitely not with him. I feel like a piece of me is missing and all I want is to forget it.

I try to hold in the urge to cry because Harrison is here, but one tear manages to escape. I miss Eric. It's his absence in my dream that is making me feel so vulnerable and I really want him right now. I take a deep breath pulling back the rest of my unshed tears. Jeff's hand on my hair is calming and I close my eyes trying to block out the feeling of the dream that woke me. I finally start to feel better after a while of comfortable silence, slowly relaxing until my breathing evens out and I'm half asleep.

"Just friends huh?" Harrison says quietly causing my consciousness to return slightly and keep me from falling completely asleep. "Yes, she is just a friend." Jeff say defensively in a loud whisper. They both must think I am asleep. "You said you have known her for a long time. Did you ever want it to go beyond friendship?" He questions Jeff curiously.

Jeff takes a minute before he answers back. "Yeah I did, but I screwed it up. I never told her how I felt about her until it was too late, but it's okay. I am happy knowing she is happy. It took me a while to get over her but I will always love her and as long as she has someone who loves her and takes care of her, I am good with that. She will always be my best friend and I am satisfied just being there for her when she needs me."

"Like tonight." Harrison say before pausing for a minute. "What happened? It seems this isn't the first time this has happened." I really wish they would end this conversation but I am too tired and to embarrassed to stop it now. They think I am asleep and I rather keep it that way.

"Some bad shit happened to her when we were kids. It caused her to get really bad nightmares, among other things. She always felt safe with me and when she would get upset or scared, she would sneak into my room at camp or she would sneak up the fire scape to my room at my house."

"And then what?" I can just imagine him saying that with a lifted eyebrow. Jeff lets out a soft chuckle. "Just this. I run my fingers through her hair until she would fall back asleep, or cry herself back to sleep."

"Cry?" _Dammit Jeff!_ He takes a deep breath still running his fingers along my hair. "Yeah, like I said, it was some bad shit and she has had more things happen to her recently causing her nightmares to resurface more often. She would probably kick my ass right now if she knew I was telling you this, so please don't say anything to her about it." He tries to laugh it off but I hear the sadness in his voice.

"I heard about that. Max told me that she was stabbed out of jealousy by another staff member a few months ago when she was still a cadet. I guess you can say that was pretty fucked up. It sucks she has been through so much. You wouldn't realize it by looking at her. She seems so strong."

"Yeah well, even as stubborn and tough as she is, she has this soft, vulnerable side to her that she rarely shows because she thinks people see it as a weakness. She doesn't like people looking down on her. So most of the time she holds in all of her pain and sadness. On rare nights like tonight, when it is too much for her, she lets me comforts her. Sometimes she just needs someone to be strong for her."

It is quite for a minute. "Did something happen tonight? Is that why she had a nightmare?" _Please don't tell him Jeff._ He takes a deep breath. "Her and her boyfriend got into an argument."

"Her boyfriend was at the party? I was really starting to think she was making that up." _Dick!_ Like that is something I would just make up. I wasn't the first one that mentioned him. It was everyone else.

Jeff chuckles. "No, he is real and yes he was at the party, but they got into a argument about something and she left. I had gone off to hang out Uriah and we found some girls to talk to. We went outside when we heard some commotion and Paulo was out there trying to calm down her boyfriend. He told me what had happened so I came back here to check on her. Being Dani, of course she played it off like she was ok, but obviously whatever he said or did hurt her deep down."

"So what? Is he physical with her?" _That's not happening._ I would never be with someone who hit me. "No, nothing like that. I would fucking murder him if he ever touched her out of anger. I honestly don't think he would ever do that, but with her, words can do just as much damage and it's not the first time he has done something to upset her."

"I have to give it to you kid. You are a really good friend to be there for her like you are. I couldn't imagine being in your spot."

"Like I said, I love her. I would do anything for her and I just want her to be happy." He is so sweet. I am so glad I have him.

"Do you like him? Her boyfriend?" I feel Jeff take another deep breath. "It's complicated. I mean, he can be the biggest asshole sometimes. He's so jealous and controlling, and it pisses me off when he upsets her over petty shit like tonight. He was completely out of line. Her on the other hand. She is strong, loving, smart and selfless despite all the things she has been through. There are times when I think she can do so much better than him, but then I see them together and I see how happy she is just being with him. It's like a light erupts in her that was never there before. " He pauses for a moment and then lets out a chuckle.

"They actually balance each other out well. She pulls him down off the pedal stool he pretends to be on and he is not such an ass when she is around. When he is around her, she lets down her guard and you can see true happiness within her. No one has ever been able to get close to her like he has. Not even me." He lowers his voice as he says the last part.

"I don't know, you two seem pretty close." Jeff lightly runs his thumb across my cheek as he lets out a sigh. "Not like they are, even I have to be careful around her sometimes." He sound so sad and I sigh internally.

 _I'm sorry Jeff._ I really wish it wasn't like that. I don't mean to be like that with him.

"She seems pretty amazing." Harrison's voice is full of wonder. "Amazing is one word to describe her. She is definitely one of a kind." Jeff tells him with pride. I hear Harrison's bed move and foot steps going toward the bathroom. _Good!_ I am glad that conversation is over finally. I feel Jeff kiss the top of my head and I let the darkness finally pull me down.

* * *

I wake up to pounding at the door. Opening my eyes, I see that Jeff is propped up against the wall just waking up and I am still lying on his lap. Harrison is on his feet going to the door. When he opens it, I hear the voice I was dreading.

"I need to talk to Jeff." Eric's commanding voice floats into the room. "Is everything okay?" Harrison ask and I notice he had put on basketball shorts sometime after I arrived last night. That is probably a good thing. I could just imagine what Eric would have thought if he was still in boxers like he was last night. I don't think I will be telling Eric that anytime soon.

"I am not sure, Marlene just told me Dani isn't in their cabin and that her bed looks like she never came home. Nobody has seen her since last night." He sounds extremely worried but his voice is hard almost like he is scolding me without even knowing I am here. "Didn't she go to a party with you guys last night." Harrison questions him even though he knows the answer to that question. Eric pauses before answering him. "Yes she did, but she got upset about something and left with some guy she barely knows and now she doesn't appear to be here which is unlike her."

"So wait, you let her leave a party, probably drunk, with some guy?" There is an accusation in his voice. It is clear he thinks Eric should have stopped me, which pisses me off a little. I'm not a damn kid that needs looking after.

"First of all, I didn't _let_ her do anything. She is stubborn and does what she wants, when she wants. I tried to stop her last night but she really doesn't like people bossing her around." _Good at least you get that now!_ "Second, I don't need _you_ questioning _me_." He is beyond pissed and I know I need to intervene before he does something he regrets.

I jump up and go to the door. His eyes widen in shock and relief when he sees me. Harrison step back as soon as I get to the door and goes back over to his bed. "I'm right fucking here, safe and sound. No need to flip out." I snap at him so he realizes I am still pissed off at him. His eyes glance up at Harrison and then back to mine. "Why are you in the guys cabin. That's against the rules, you know that." His voice is steady, void of any emotion other than disapproval so as not reveal his true feelings, but I can see the anger in his eyes. By the way he just looked at Harrison, I would venture to say he thinks I came here to see him. His need to keep composure is the only thing keeping him from outright accusing me of sleeping with Harrison. _Dick!_

I am not in the mood for this shit. "Look, I had...a difficult time sleeping and I sought out my best friend. I know it's against the rules but I didn't think it would be a big deal. I was obviously mistaken and I will make sure it doesn't happen again. Satisfied?" Confusion crosses his face and then realization.

"What-" He begins but I cut him off because I know exactly what he was going to say and I am not in the mood for that conversation right now either. "Thanks for your concern Eric but as you can see, I am here and alive." I look down at my watch. "I have had a long, irritating night and need to get cleaned up. I will see you at P.T. in twenty minutes." I tell him. His face falls and I see the regret on his face for a moment before he composes himself again. I know I will forgive him for last night, but right now I am not ready to. I shut the door softly before he can say anymore.

Walking over to Jeff's bed, I see the concern in his eyes. I fall back on the bed bouncing a little before putting my arm under my head and letting out a loud sigh. Harrison is staring at me too, looking completely dumbfounded. "Wow, I think you are the first person that I have seen talk to him that way." I want to roll my eyes. That is because no one else has the guts too. "Well like he said, I don't like to be bossed around and I surely don't need him checking up on me like I am a five year old." I snap.

"Easy there tiger. I was just making an observation." He says with a chuckle and I can't help but smile back at him. I need to chill out. "Well some things never change. You should have seen her stand up to him when she was a cadet. She never backed down then either and it use to piss him off like crazy." Jeff laughs. "I can't help that you all are a bunch of pussies too afraid to speak up." I throw back at him.

"I wasn't afraid, I was being smart. Something you would do well to remember. It isn't always about being the strongest." I glare at him. "Well I might as well get in the shower real quick. You good?" Jeff ask and I nod as I stand up with him. "Yeah I'm fine. Thanks for being there for me last night." He smiles at me. "No problem, I always enjoy you climbing into my bed in the middle of the night." I smack him playfully in his arm and he laughs. "I was joking, no need to be violent."

"I need to go shower too, I will see you out there." I tell Jeff and he gives me a hug and kisses me on the forehead. "Hey, all kidding aside. I am always here if you need me." My heart warms at his words. He really is the best friend I could ever ask for. "I know." I give him a kiss on the cheek and turn to Harrison.

"Sorry your sleep was interrupted on my account." I apologize feeling a little bad that he got caught in the middle of this. He shakes his head with a smirk on his face. "No problem at all. We all need a good friend sometimes." I give him a smile before I slip on my shoes and leave to get ready for my day.

* * *

I punch the bag with all my might trying as the sweat drips down my back. I concentrate hard on my form as the music blares in my ears.

 _This is my answer to everything_  
 _This is my answer to everything_  
 _None are made before their time_

 _Now you know this could never be justified_

 _Now you know I could never be satisfied_  
 _Now you know you can't love me if I can hide_  
 _Now you know that this little child is terrified_

 _This is my place to hide from everything_

 _This is my place and time for everything_  
 _None are made before their time_

 _Now you know this could never be justified_  
 _Now you know I could never be satisfied_

 _Now you know you can't love me if I can hide_  
 _Now you know that this little child is terrified_

 _It's glorified_  
 _It's sanctified, in you, for you_

 _It's purified, I walk inside_  
 _The truth, the truth_

 _Now you know this could never be justified_  
 _Now you know I could never be satisfied_

 _Now you know you can't love me if I can hide_  
 _Now you know that this little child is terrified_

 _Now you know_  
 _Now you know_

I stop punching the bag, pull my earbuds out and put my hands on my knees trying catch my breath. It is amazing how much I relate to some music. I take another deep breath in an attempt to regulate my breathing.

My anger hadn't let up from this morning and I figured the exercise would help. As always it has done wonders and my anger is slowly dissipating. I haven't talked to Eric since he is clearly giving me some time to cool off, which is very wise of him. I hate being so conflicted about this. On one hand I want to run and jump in his arms, but on the other I want to just hit him for being such a jealous, controlling asshole.

I am really glad we had the second half of the day off because I am not in the mood to deal with being around people right now. I have been here for over an hour and it has really helped. Something out of the corner of my eye catches my attention. I stand up, turning my body toward the door and Harrison is leaning against it with a troubled look on his face. "How long have you been standing there?" I ask a little irritated at myself for not noticing him earlier.

"Only a few minutes. To be honest, the way you were hitting that bag, I was afraid to interrupt you." He seems amused by that but I sure ain't. "Then why are you still here." I snap at him and his lips press into a line. "I know you are a grown woman in all, but I thought I should check up on you. Everyone else seems to be shying away from you today."

"Well that is because they know me well." I look down to my gloves. Everyone knows I like my space when I am upset. "That can be dangerous you know." I nod because I know this. I have been told on several occasions by Christian and once by that bitch Lynn, but it is what I know. Being alone with loud music or exercise or both, until I feel better. It's how I cope.

He walks over and sits on the bench near the bags. "So do you want to talk about it? You seemed pretty upset last night."

"Really? I am not talking to anyone else, why do you think I would want to talk to you?" That came out a little more harsh than I meant it to. "Ouch. I am not trying to intrude, I just wanted to offer my ear and maybe a word of advice. You know from an outside prospective. Unlike everyone else, I have no emotional attachment to you so I could give you an unbias opinion. Or if your more interested in just forgetting life for a while, we could just talk about anything else to keep your mind off of it. You don't have to, I just wanted to let you know it is an option." He stands up and walks toward the door.

"Harrison, just to be clear, I seriously do have a boyfriend and I have no interest in getting that close with anyone else." By the way he has been asking about my boyfriend constantly, he has to know I noticed he was interested in me. He smiles at me. "As much as I wouldn't mind that, I swear that is not my intentions here. I know you have a boyfriend and I'm not like that. I respect the fact that you are committed to someone and I would never do anything to cause problems between you two." He seems pretty sincere. Maybe he really is just trying to be helpful.

"Thank god, because that is the last thing I need right now." I say out loud but not really to him. "Well if you change your mind and want to just chat, come find me." He walks out before I can say anything else. That was kind of weird, but at least I don't have to worry about him hitting on me now.

* * *

"Is she here?" I hear Eric's guarded voice at the door. Marlene had answered it but only opened it a crack so he couldn't see me. She looks over to me. I guess it is now or never. I'm sure he is worried that I skipped dinner and our evening work out, but I really just needed to think. After Harrison had left me in the gym, I ended up just running laps inside until I collapsed to my knees from exhaustion. By then dinner was done so I came back to my room to shower and do my school work.

I take a deep breath and nod to Marlene. She opens the door wide and he steps in. "I am going to get you something to eat Dani. I will be back." Before I can tell her it isn't necessary, she leaves without looking at either of us and shuts the door behind her.

Eric's eyes are still on the floor and I move back up against the head board with my legs crossed so he has room to sit. He takes the hint and comes over to sits on the edge of the bed, putting his elbows on his knees, still not taking his eyes off the floor. I just wait letting him speak first.

It takes him a minute. "Danielle, I can't tell you how sorry I am about last night. I was out of line and I let my emotions get the better of me. I was being stupid and you didn't deserve that. I am so sorry." He closes his eyes, lowering his head into his hands. My heart breaks at the sadness in his voice.

I crawl over to sit next to him. "Eric, I know it is in your nature to be controlling, but you need to understand that if you want to be with me, I will only stand beside you, I will not sit below you. Even as fucked up as I am, I deserve that much respect."

He takes a deep breath and then gets down kneeling between my legs in front of me. He pulls on my face gently to look in his eye. "You are not fucked up, but you are right that you deserve respect. I had no right to talk to you like that last night and I definitely would never, ever consider you to be below me. You are my life. My days start and end with you on my mind. If anything, I hold you above me." He sits on his heels so I have to look down to him almost as if it was a metaphor for what he just said. He wrap his arms around my waist pulling me tightly to him as he lays his head on my chest. "Please forgive me babe."

I wrap my arms around his head. Listening and seeing his sadness makes me feel like I have a hundred pound weight on my chest. I push him back a little and bring his face back up to mine to place a soft kiss on his lips. "I love you Eric." He closes his eyes, swallowing loudly before he pulls my lips back to his own. "I love you too and I promise to try to keep my emotions in check from now on." He murmurs against my lips and pulls me back into a tight hug. This is what I have craved since last night. To be in his arms, to feel safe, to feel loved and comforted.

"Eric?" He doesn't move. "Yeah?"

"You know that I would never cheat on you right? There is no reason for you to be so jealous." He takes a deep breath. "Deep down I know that. I just have a hard time when I see other men touching you."

"You know I saw that girl at the party put her hands on you, but I didn't freak out. I waited and watched. I saw you move away from her and I knew you had no interest in her. That was me giving you my trust and confidence. That is something I need you to learn to do. The majority of my friends are guys and while only very few can comfortably touch me, that may not always be the case. You need to learn to trust me that I would never, ever do that to you."

"I do trust you it just makes me uncomfortable. I promise I will try my best to not overreact in the future." Finally pulling back he gives me a hesitant smile. "So do you forgive me?"

I roll my eyes at him. "Yes you big knucklehead, just don't let it happen again." He grins from ear to ear before he places a passionate kiss on my lips that quickly deepens. Our need for each other explodes.

Marlene walks in making us break apart. "There wasn't much, but I got you a sandwich and some cookies." She stops and looks at him still holding me in his arms, clearly flushed from our lust filled kiss. "Forgave him so quickly huh? I would have let him writhe in his guilt for at least another day."

"Marlene lay off." I tell her before she can make him feel any worse. I know he feels bad what he did and he has suffered enough. "I am not really hungry." Eric glares at me. "You didn't eat dinner and you hardly ate anything at breakfast or lunch, you should really eat something. Tomorrow is going to be a long day."

"I hate to say it but he is right." I glare at Marlene for taking his side. I groan internally knowing they are right. "Please eat something babe." He pleads and groan outwardly this time. "Fine!"

"That a girl." Eric says playfully placing a kiss on my forehead. "Don't push it." I tell him. He cups my face in his hands pulling me to his lips once more before he gets up and moves behind me sitting on the bed against the wall. He pulls be back to sit between his legs. Marlene sets my food on my lap before going to sit on her own bed. Now that I have made up with Eric I am actually a little hungry.

After a few minutes Paulo shows up. "So who is ready for tomorrow." He ask going to sit on Marlene's bed. "Is that a joke. Of course we are ready." Eric says confidently. "So who do you think are going to be the trouble ones?" Marlene ask.

"My money is on Skyler and Ryan. They have the most history of problems. That is why I assigned them to me." Eric says as if it is nothing. "Do you always do that? Assign the ones you think are trouble to you." I ask him and his smile answers my question. "Yes. I assumed last session that it would be you and Mike, although I thought he would be more trouble than you. Boy was I wrong."

"Hey." I say slapping his arm that is around my waist still. He kisses my neck, whispering in my ear. "Hummm. Feisty as always."

* * *

 **Well there you go. I hope I did that justice. Apologies are not my strong point but hopefully I got it across okay. Also I wanted to show that Harrison is all bad. he does have a moral side to him but he is not all innocent. Let me know what you thought. Was she too forgiving? All comment and reviews are always loved and welcomed.**

 **I also decided to set up a play list on youtube for the music in my books. I always listen to music when I am writing and often times it is my muse so it is only right. Right now it consist of the music that is actually in the books but it will soon include those inspiring songs that helped me write these chapters. If your interested just search for "Dauntless Bootcamp leneah1" Or see the link on my profile page along with the tumblr link.**

 **Finally I wanted to let you all know I went back and credited the music in each chapter at the bottom of the page. Something I should have done from the start. My bad.**

 **Until next time!**

 **(Music Credit: Now You Know - Full Devil Jacket)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey Everyone. Sorry about taking the entire week to update but I had a lot going on this week, but I wouldn't go more than a week to update. This chapter also turned out to be a little longer than I intended because I added more and more which also took some extra time. Hopefully you like it. Enjoy!**

This story is rated M/MA for Lemons, language and situations. Not appropriate for younger readers!

Disclaimer: All divergent characters belong to Veronica Roth, all original characters are mine. V.R. characters look like those in the movie. Hope you all enjoy, reviews and thoughts are welcome.

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

 _(Sunday, November 22nd)_

"Geez Marlene, this braid is so tight, it hurts."

"Stop your whining. The first day is always important. We need to make a good impression of what's expected. Don't touch it!" She shouts as Chris french braids her hair in the bathroom. I drop my hands and stare back in the mirror at her. I would have much rather just put my hair back in a pony tail like I always do but somehow I let Marlene talk me and everyone else into braiding our hair today.

I sigh changing out of my shorts into my uniform pants and grab my boots. "Next time, remind me not to blindly agree to letting you get me ready." I mumble just loud enough for her to hear and Chris laughs. At least our clothes are comfortable. It took me a while as a cadet to get use to wearing boots everyday but now it is like second nature having them on. I brought my runners with me but most days, I choose to workout in my boots.

I grab my new camp zip up hoodie that matches my uniform. The weather has gotten pretty chilly the last few days, making me glad that the cadets are arriving in the afternoon when it is just a little warmer. It is definitely time to dress warmer. I had regretted only wearing a tank top out to P.T. this morning because I froze my butt off. Thankfully when I picked up my uniforms, they included extra hoodies, long sleeve shirts and even a warm jacket. We even got long johns and wool socks. I have never been in the mountains for winter but I am guessing it gets really cold here.

Looking at myself in the full length mirror, I look like I just stepped out of the military. My hair is perfectly pulled back into a tight french braid that runs down my back, my makeup is light and almost unnoticeable, thank goodness for that, and my clothes are are perfectly fitted to my body showing off my fit physique. All I need to do is stand up straight and put on my 'no bull shit' face and I am set.

I can't help but laugh because standing next to Eric right now would actually make us both look like two of the biggest hard asses. I always thought we looked a little odd together because we are so different. Just looking at him, he is so handsome and has the body of a god. When I am not around, he is a hard ass that no one would dare stand up to. As for me, I am pretty average. While my body is a bit more defined these days, I will never be that girl with the perfect boobs or ass. My attitude is a little withdrawn but I am generally nice to most people as long as they don't piss me off. It is almost like we are complete opposites and I never understood what he sees in me. At least for today I can imagine that we are more alike then I might think.

Thinking back to my first day here, I did think everyone looked like a bunch of uptight hard asses, not just Eric. They had all been perfectly done up just like we are today making me feel like I was walking into something much worse then juvy. I guess I understand why the first impression is important.

Someone knocks on the door so I go answer it since the other two are still finishing up. I open the door and see Tris standing there already done up. Chris must have done her hair before she came over. Tris's jacket is just a little looser than ours but I suspect that it's to make her baby bump less noticeable. She isn't showing much yet because she's only four month pregnant but when she wears tight shirts you can see it. Max said that her safety is one of our main priorities when the cadets are here. We will be hiding her pregnancy as much as possible and once it is more noticeable, she isn't to be left alone with any cadet.

That isn't going to be hard since I am shadowing her so we will be together almost all day, everyday. I have had Max, Four and even Eric lecture me on keeping an eye on her during the day. Something I am more then happy to do. I'm not great friends with Tris but I would never let anything happen to her and I am honored to know that everyone trust me enough to look after her. Although between Tris and I we don't think it is a big deal. Tris is a rather good fighter and could probably handle anything without me.

"We need to get out there. Did I ever say how much I hate being around Eric on arrival day? No offense Dani." She says to all of us and I just shrug my shoulders while the other two laugh. Eric has been extremely uptight today, I'll admit and he is even getting on my nerves. He has been running around all morning barking orders at everyone including me. Granted I don't take any of it personal. I know he is just trying to do his job well but he really does need to learn to relax.

Marlene grabs her jacket and we head out to the stage where everyone else is already standing around. Max, Tori, Eric and Harrison are standing on the stage talking and we join all the other guys standing in front of the stage. At least most of them look pretty upbeat. Four is looking at Tris with worry but he lightens up when she smiles at him. I glance up to Eric who is watching at me from the corner of his eye while he talks to Max. I give him a quick smile before turning to the guys.

"Hey guys!" I say as we reach them. Naturally I find myself standing between Jeff and Paulo. They are the two I usually gravitate toward them when I cannot be close to Eric. Jeff hits my shoulder with his own and smiles at me. "At least your attitude is better than Eric's." Paulo hits my other shoulder with his. "Yeah, you should really do something about that." He says quietly with a mischievous smile.

"He is his own person, I don't think there is much I can do." I tell them both. Paulo chuckles, "Who are you trying to kid? You say jump and he says how high." I glare at him because that is not true. "I may stand up to Eric but when have you ever seen me order Eric around?" I ask him as my eyes knit together. "The night he got into the bar fight." Jeff gives me a questioning look and I shake my head at him. "He was drunk. That doesn't count." Besides all I really did was calm him down. "Of course it does. Even more so because he doesn't listen to anyone when he is drunk." I look up to the stage again and shake my head.

"Two minutes!" Eric shouts as he jumps down and comes over to our group. "Line up people. Four." Eric's 'hard ass face' breaks for a second as he passes me. His lips turn up slightly and he gives me a quick wink. As soon as he passes the group, Four joins him and they head out front. I feel Paulo lean close into me. "See." I push him away from me and walk toward the stage. "I would be interested in hearing about that story." Jeff says quietly and I roll my eyes at him before he goes to stand with the other guys.

"Alright, you guys know the drill. Girls one side, guys on the other. Dani stand next to Tris and Jeff you need to be on the end with the instructors." Max tells us and we all get into position. We hear the bus pull up and we know they're here. "I want everyone putting on their 'serious faces'. If anything out of the norm happens, let Eric or I deal with it." _Yeah, just like Eric did with me_. Although all I did was smile. Now that I know Eric thought I was going to be one of the troubled ones, I wonder if he did that on person to show me who was boss.

We all stand up straighter and put our hands behind our back. We are perfectly spaced, everyone's uniforms are nicely pressed and we all look like we just got out of bootcamp ourselves. I notice the first of the cadets start filing between the two buildings and I stand a little straighter. I look at their faces and try remember their names. I studied the files one last time this morning for good measure. With all the school work and learning the ins and outs of camp, it has been an information overload.

The guy in front name is Asa. I think he is the easiest to remember because his name is so unusual. He is followed close by two of the girls who have hard looks on their faces, but you can see they are trying to hide the worry. Something tells me they are going to be trouble anyway. As the last of the new cadets clear the buildings, Eric barks at the last two to hurry up. These poor kids have no idea what they are in for. The first two weeks were the hardest for me and I am sure it will be the same for them.

Some of them look pissed, some look scared but one of the guy's look indifferent. The kid's name is Skyler and he is one of the one's in Eric's group. I think he was one of the ones that Eric believed was going to cause trouble. I guess we will see.

They finally all get to the stage and Four and Eric fall in with the rest of us as Max starts in on his speech. It's pretty much identical to the one that we got last session with the exception of Me, Jeff and Harrison in which he explained we are training but have just as much power to punish as the others. As he finishes up, Eric, Paulo, Four and Zeke move to make a square around the cadets. Will hands a tablet to Max and I listen to him hand out the dorm assignments.

"You will all be split into 4 groups. You will be paired with an instructor who will be your lead instructor. When I call your name, go stand next to your instructor. Clarrisa, Vincent and Alex, your lead instructor is Zeke. Karen, Charlie and Reid, your lead instructor is Four. Amanda, Skyler and Ryan, your lead instructor is Eric." I have to tried hard not to smile as I remember my name being called out a few months ago. I was so irritated to be put with Eric. "Crystal, Asa and Martin, your lead instructor is Paulo."

When they are all situated around their instructors Max continues. "Behind me is the main dorms. If you are in Paulo and Eric's groups, you will be in dorm A, if you are in Four or Zeke's groups, you are in dorm B." I look around at their faces and see realization cross their faces. "Your instructors are in dorm C on the back side of this building."

"Your kidding me." One of the girls spits out. I think her name is Crystal. Only a few people look upset at the sleeping arrangements. That is until Max goes into his speech and warning to all of them at which their faces fall. Again I have to work hard to keep myself from laughing.

When no one else has anything to say, the instructors take the cadets into the dorms. Jeff follows Four and Harrison follows Eric. I know Eric isn't too happy about Harrison having to tag along with him because it leaves less time for us to be around each other but he will do whatever it takes to prove to Max he deserves Tori's position. I am hoping he will have time to stop by tonight because I really miss being around him. Last night I was so tempted to ask him to stay, but I know as much as he would have wanted to, he would follow the rules.

As soon as the cadets are in the dorms, Max dismisses us and lets us know everyone needs to be at dinner and be on time. Tris and I don't have much to do because of our positions so I decide to go get some school work done while I have the cabin to myself for the next hour and a half. Marlene has to be in the clinic so I will have some peace and quiet until dinner.

As soon I get into the cabin, I move the braid on my head up and down several times trying to loosen it just a little. She really did the braid too tight but I don't want to take it out because she will just complain and redo it for dinner. I throw my jacket on the bed and get comfortable at the desk as I open my laptop.

* * *

 _What the hell?_ I am startled, nearly falling out of my seat by a sudden tapping on the window above my night table. _Who the hell is doing that?_ I get up from the desk and walk over to the window. Throwing the curtain open, I see Eric standing there with a smirk on his face. I try to hide the smile threatening my lips and give him a disapproving look.

I unlock the window and slide it sideways so that it is all the way open. "What are you doing?" I ask him trying to act unamused. "What does it look like? I am sneaking around to see my girlfriend." I can't help but let my smile show. Him acting like a teenage boy is so out of character for him and so freaking adorable. "You do know there is a front door right?"

"Yeah, but that defeats the purpose of the 'sneaking around' and someone might see me. There are no camera's back here remember and I am able to get through the blind spot on the one attached to the dorm." I chuckle a little and bend down to his level. "Really, so what exactly did you need to see your girlfriend for?"

He hums and grabs onto my face with both of his hands. "Well, I know you're all alone in here and I couldn't help but think about how extremely hot you looked standing out there. I figured I would sneak away and maybe steal a kiss." He pulls me the rest of the way to him and kisses me gently causing me to moan into his mouth at the contact. I move one of my hands from the window seal and wrap it around his neck. All too soon he breaks away putting his forehead to mine.

"Urg, I hate this." I whisper to him and he pulls back to look into my eyes. "Hate what?" He almost looks hurt although I couldn't imagine why. "Not having access to you whenever I want."

His face immediately perks up. "Ahh, what's the matter princess? Miss me?" I smile at him as I hum in agreement making him laugh. "Do you miss me or do you miss my little friend?" I look at him confused and then he looks down. Not only do I get what he is talking about, I can clearly see the excitement in his pants. I feel my cheeks get hot and look down . "Hmm, maybe both." I tell him using up the little bit of bravery I have saved up for a moment like this. I hear a low groan escape him. "Move back."

I look at him a little confused but do as he ask. Grabbing onto the window seal, he springs himself up before grabbing the side of the window so he can swing his legs inside. _Impressive!_ He quickly closes the gap between us as I stand stunned by how easily he just did that. "So which one do you miss more?" He ask grabbing my waist and pulling me tight to him so I can feel his want for me. An ache erupts between my legs. "Hmm, I can't decide." I whisper, teasing him as I stare into his beautiful eyes. He pulls my face to his again but this time his kiss is much more passionate and lustful.

"Well why don't I give you both and then you can decide." He says in a low breathy voice and I can't help the lust that explodes inside of me. I pull his lips down to mine again and he walks us backwards until my legs hit the bed. He lays me down without breaking contact with me and his hands quickly undo the buttons on my pants. "I don't have long princess." He whispers as he moves his lips down to my neck and I really don't care. All I know is I want him right the minute.

"Then you better make it good." I have no idea where that my boldness came from but he clearly enjoys it. He groans against my neck and the vibration from his lips travel down hitting me between my legs just as his fingers enter me. "Fuck Eric." I moan grabbing his shoulders tightly. "You like that huh?" I feel his smile against my neck as he continues to kiss and bite at me. His fingers move quicker and quicker in me and I'm dying to feel him in me. "Eric, I need you."

"Impatient as ever Princess." He pulls me up off the bed and quickly pulls me over to the table. "Put you hands on the table." He whispers in my ear from behind me. I do it and I feel him kneel behind me as he pulls my pants and underwear down to my ankles. He hums in appreciation as I feel him kiss each side of my ass before standing up again. I hear him unbuckle his pants quickly to release himself from the confines of his pants.

Another moan escapes me as I feel him press his already harden length between my legs without entering me. _I want him, I need him._ Our limited time together has just heightened my feelings for him so much more when he is around. He pushes on my back slightly forcing me to bend over further before he grabs my hips tightly with both hands. He continues rubbing his full length against my entrance allowing my arousal to coat him as his teasing causes my want for him to go into overdrive. "Eric." I whine and he stops moving but I hear his labored breathing even though we have yet to really do anything.

"Just so you know, I miss you too." He says before quickly entering me until he is fully sheathed. We both moan in unison. He doesn't waste anytime and I am glad because my need for him right now is overwhelming. He quickly finds a fast rhythm and his hands tighten along my hips so tightly, I know there will be bruises later but I just push back against him with each thrust wanting more and more of him.

One of his hands wraps around my front and he begins messaging my sensitive spot. It only takes a few minutes for the pull within me to reach it's edge but I try to hold it, not wanting this to end just yet. It feels so damn good and I know once I release, he will follow, but as soon as I hear Eric's labored words in my ears, I know it can't last longer. "Let me feel it." His words are golden and my orgasm explodes sending shockwaves through out my body. A string of curse words come out of his mouth as he quickly follows with a few more thrust.

I lower my chest onto the table as I come down and I feel Eric's chest press against my back so I am pinned between him and the table. "Fuck babe, you never cease to amaze me." He tells me as he places kisses across my back and shoulders. "I think the same can be said about you." He chuckles and I feel his weight disappear.

I stand up as well and pull my pants back up before turning around to face him. He is staring at me with his smirk on his face. "What?" I question him and he shakes his head. "Nothing, I just love the sight of you bent over that table." My face flushes. That will probably be the only think I can think about the next time we are sitting around the table.

"I have to get going. I told Paulo I would only be a few minutes." He kisses me quickly before going over and jumping out the window. "Well feel free to do that anytime." I tell him and he turns back to give me a heart stopping smile. There is no possible way anyone could love someone as much as I love this man.

He quickly disappears and I turn around toward the front door. It's a good thing Marlene didn't stop by because I hadn't even locked the door. I am also glad the blinds on the front window just happened to be closed. I swear, all rational thoughts seem to evade me when he is around.

Dinner is almost ready so I save my paper I was working on so I can go see if they need any help. I quickly look in the mirror and I am surprised to see my hair is still almost perfect. I fix the few little hairs that are out of place and put on a little powder in an attempt to cover my flushed skin. It doesn't really work but hopefully people just think I was exercising or something. I guess in a way I was but that is beside the point. Put on some chap stick, grab my jacket and keys before heading out the door.

When I get into the dinning haul, pretty much all the staff is there with the exception of the instructors. I go and make sure Chris didn't need any help but she insisted it is all done and tells me to dish up. The food looks delicious as usually. We are having baked chicken, fried rice and mixed vegetables. I get my plate and sit down next to Max. I am fairly certain all the instructors will sit together at the other table today.

"Where did you disappear to?" Harrison ask as he sits down across from me. I look at his face and he really does just look like he is starting a conversation so I try my hardest not to flush. "I was working on paper that I have due next week." I tell him as I concentrate on my food.

"That reminds me. I have been meaning to ask you how is school going?" Max ask. "It's going good. I have manage to maintain a three point nine so far this quarter, so it is going ok. It's just taking a little bit of time to get use to adding in work with the demand of my school work, but I will be ok."

"I heard you passed the first half of your CLEP test with flying colors." _Eric!_ Him and I are the only ones that know so it must have been him. "Well, I want you to know I am proud of you and if you need to study for a test or something, just let me know. We will make some time for you, alright?" Max is really the best. "Thanks Max. For everything. You have been too generous." I look over to him and he smiles for probably the first time today. "Nonsense. I know talent when I see it." Heat rises on my cheeks and I look up to see Harrison smiling as well.

"I had heard you were going to school. What are you getting your degree in?" He ask me before I can look back down. "I am getting my teaching degree."

"And you are going to school and working here?" I just nod and look down. It really isn't a big deal. "Don't let her fool you." Max pipes up. "She is doing a fast track program to get her teaching degree in one year and so far, not only has she done well, but she has exceeded any expectations I've had. Her school workload is enough to overwhelm anyone let alone someone who is working too. Anyone who can take on that much stress and still smile deserves some recognition." He bumps my shoulder with his own and I am sure my face is the shade of a rose, but I am smiling. If I didn't know any better, it would sound like he is praising his own child.

"Well looks like you found a really great girl here Max." He laughs, "I know!" His confidence reminds me of Eric which just makes me smile wider.

The door opens and the first of the cadets start wondering in. Max tells them to get some dinner and take a seat. Once they have all filed in, the instructors come in too. As I expected, all the instructors sit together at the other table behind Harrison.

* * *

The rest of dinner was fairly uneventful. We showed the new cadets how to clean up properly after dinner and then Eric left to finish showing them around. I had gotten a little nervous when Max asked me back to his office. When I had gotten there, he sat down with me on his couch instead of at the desk which clued me in that it wasn't going to be anything good.

He went on to give me an update on the case against Lynn. Apparently my lawyer and the prosecuting attorney have been able to build a pretty strong case showing motive and premeditation. Both lawyers seem to think they have enough grounds to try to plea it out so we won't have to go to trial.

Max was very supportive in telling me that it was completely up to me and if I wanted it to go to trial because she would receive a harsher sentence, he would completely understand. Being he is footing the bill for my lawyer, I would have thought he would have pushed me to settle, but he did nothing of that sort. After he explained the possible outcomes of both sides, I agreed that I would rather settle it out of court.

Of course he praised me for being so strong through this whole ordeal and even gave me a quick hug which totally threw me off. As I was leaving, he said he would call my lawyer in the morning to give him my input since he had a meeting with the prosecutor this week. They will be pushing for seven to ten years if she pleads guilty to aggravated assault which would cut out the extra two and a half years for the deadly weapons charge. So at the minimum, she would get seven years. I suppose giving up a few years to her sentence will be worth not having to go to court and testify.

The whole situation had just irritated, even just having to think about it. So I had immediately went to the back field behind the cabins and ran sprints between the cabin and the fire pit until the sweat had been running down my back. I stopped by my cabin and changed into a tank top and grabbed a hand towel before heading to the gym so that I could see Eric. Not that we could be openly together but even working out with him makes me feel calmer.

I reach the gym and there are a couple people inside. Harrison and Uriah are both punching at the bags while Jeff lifts weights. I drop the towel on one of the benches before removing my hoodie. "You okay Dani?" Of course Jeff is the first to notice my fowl mood. "Yeah, where is Eric and Paulo. I thought they would be here by now." They are usually here about an hour after dinner, even when the cadets are here. "There was an incident with the cadets. They should be here in a little bit. Now you want to tell me why you look like you just ran a marathon?"

I notice Harrison and Uriah have both stopped and are listening. "Because I was running sprints out back. I needed to work through some shit in my head." He nods getting the hint I don't want to talk about it. "So what happen in the cabins?" Uriah ask coming up behind me. "I don't know. I was talking to Zeke in the court yard a little bit ago and he got an urgent text from Four telling to get back to the dorm."

"Well crap. Eric and I were suppose to work on boxing today." I say hoping Jeff will want to work with me until Eric gets here. "I can work with you until he gets here?" I turn around at the voice behind me to see Harrison walking toward me. "I am not Eric, but I am pretty good." Now that is funny. I watched his fight with Max the other night. Harrison is a great fighter. Good enough that he would be an pretty even match for Eric even though he's a bit shorter. "Yeah okay." He nods and picks up the boxing hand pads while I put on my gloves.

We get step on the mats and we agree to stick to basic combo punches. He starts calling out punches and I follow as quick as the word leaves his mouth. "Right,right...left, right...right, left, uppercut."

After a few minutes he stops. "Ok, now I am going to go faster and after each combo, I will send one to you. Make sure to block or duck." I nod in understanding since this is the same thing Eric and I normally do, and we start again. He begins slow but speeds up with each set until we are at full speed. I notice when I miss the block, Harrison hits me quite a bit harder than Eric does. Not that I mind but I can't help but notice Eric must hold back a bit. He must be afraid he will hurt me. As much as I love him, I really wish he wouldn't take it easy on me.

After a good fifteen minutes, I am sweating again and slowing down a little. Harrison keep encouraging me and which helps me to keep pushing on.

I see the door open and lose my concentration just enough that Harrison hits me hard in the shoulder. Eric and Paulo walk in and Eric's already irritated face turns pissed as he watched me take a stop back to keep my balance from the blow. "You okay." Harrison ask since his back is to the door, he didn't see them come in and the music playing in the background drowned out the noise. "Uh, yeah, that was my fault. I got distracted." His eyes pull together and then turn to see where I am looking. Eric's quickly gets his emotions in check before Harrison can see him.

"Is everything in the dorms okay?" I ask Eric trying to divert his attention. "It's fine. One of the cadets wanted to try and start a fight. I intervened when he shoved another cadet."

"Who was it?" Jeff ask. "Skyler." I laugh, guess he was right.

"And how did you deal with him?" I ask a little curious. "Made him do push-ups." I glare at him, not only because I am surprised that is all he got but also his tone with me is cold and I don't like it. "That's it?" I try to cover up my irritation with him. "Actually he did push-ups until he dropped in exhaustion." Paulo tells me with a little chuckle. "Yeah, that sounds more like it." I tell him still looking toward Eric.

"So you want to take over?" Harrison offers Eric the pads. "Actually I have some frustrations I need to get out. If you don't mind Danielle, I am going to just hit the bags." I shrug my shoulders trying to see indifferent to it but I know he's upset. Harrison puts the gloves back on and turns back to me as Eric and Paulo walk away.

"Don't let anything break your concentration. When you are fighting, the only thing in the room is you and the person you are fighting. Alright?" I shake my head yes and get back into stance. I try to block out everything else as we start again.

After another fifteen minutes I am exhausted. Harrison didn't let up on me for one minute. Between my boxing, the sprints and my little rendezvous with Eric, my body is spent. "Okay, okay, I'm done." I tell Harrison.

"Tired so soon little sister." Paulo says as he glances at Eric who is trying to hold in a smile. _Damn him._ Why the hell do boys have to air out their business to each other? I know it never bothered me before but when I am the subject of conversation it definitely does. Harrison is looking at me a little odd. "Give me a break, I was running sprints before I came in here." Eric stops hitting the bag and turns toward me. Probably in realization that our little time together earlier was not why I am so tired. "Why? Something happen?"

I realize after the fact that I really shouldn't have told them that. He won't back off like Jeff did so I try to be as vague as possible. "Max got a call from Mr. Walker. He called me into his office to give me an update and get my opinion." Eric continues to look at me for a minute. "Everything is okay right?" He finally ask. "Yep. I just needed to get out my extra energy afterward."

"Okay." He turns back to the bag and starts punching again so I turn back to Harrison. "Thanks for your help tonight." He nods his head. "Anytime." I go and pick up my towel and wipe the sweat off my neck and face. "Night guys! See you tomorrow." I say to everyone, but really I just wanted to say it to Eric. Everyone chimes in with their good nights but I see Eric's lip twitch when he says his.

Satisfied with that, I turn and head home to take a shower. Today has been a long and busy day. Looking up, I stop just outside my cabin. The sky is clear and the stars are bright in the sky since the moon isn't really present. I love how beautiful it is out here. It's so quiet and calming, I don't even mind the cold that is quickly chilling my skin.

My phone buzzes in my back pocket and I take it out to see who it is. Of course it is from Eric.

 **Eric:** Are you really okay?

 **Me:** Yes! I really just wanted to get the situation out of my head.

 **Eric:** K but if you need me, I'm here and sorry about my mood. It really wasn't you, I just got a lot on my mind as well. See you in the morning. Sleep well princess!

I let out a big sigh. He can be so sweet sometimes.

 **Me:** As long as my dreams are of you, I will most certainly sleep well :) Good night my prince. Love you!

I grin thinking of the face he probably would have made as he read that message.

 **Eric:** Stop! You are going to make me need another cold shower and just an FYI...secret rendezvous, now a high priority!

I let out a laugh and I'm a little curious to how often he has had to take a cold shower since we came here. Really we have only been together a few times including today. The whole secret rendezvous sounds good to me and if anyone can make it happen, it will be him.

* * *

 **So what did you guys think? Who is going to be trouble and who isn't. Also, how do you think Eric and Dani are going to handle this being apart thing? Did you like the whole sneaking into her cabin? I sort of thought that up at the last minute but I really like the way it turned out. All comments and reviews welcome. Until next time!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey, hey everyone. It is another day and I have another chapter for you. I just want to give out a quick shout out to all my readers and reviewers. I love you all. This one is just a little shorter but hopefully the next one will be coming soon. Enjoy!**

This story is rated M/MA for Lemons, language and situations. Not appropriate for younger readers!

Disclaimer: All divergent characters belong to Veronica Roth, all original characters are mine. V.R. characters look like those in the movie. Hope you all enjoy, reviews and thoughts are welcome.

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

 _(Thursday, November 26th)_

 _Thud, thud, thud..._

"What the hell?" I mumbling, jumping out of bed quickly and pulling the door open to see who the hell is pounding on the door at two in the morning. "Someone better be dead."

"Um, sorry." Four looks down to the ground quickly and it reminds me I only have on my camo and lace boy short panties and the matching camisole top. I quickly move behind the door to hide my lower half and he seems to be speechless. "What Four?" I try to say as if it is nothing but I'm sure my face is as red as his. "I need Marlene. A cadet tried to escape and his tracker was activated.

I turn and Marlene is already getting out of bed and starting to put on her pants over sleep shorts. "Be there in a minute Four." She tells him as she continues to dress.

"Who was it?" I ask out of curiosity but his eyes are still glued to the ground at his feet. "Skyler. Eric's in the infirmary with him now." Well that doesn't surprise me one bit. He has been awfully mouthy since the day he got here. He even started a fight that first night. Eric worked him really hard on Monday and I would have thought that he would've gotten the point.

"He is okay?" I know they check all the cadets that end up setting off their trackers to make sure there isn't any adverse reactions. It is very rare but it can happen. "Yeah, he is fine. Just precautionary." He still seems rather uncomfortable. _Great!_ Marlene slips pass me. "Lets go!" He nods and quickly turns around to follow her.

I watch them walk toward the infirmary for a minute before closing the door and slipping back into my bed. _Shit._ I really hope Four doesn't say anything to Eric about me answering the door in my damn underwear. Maybe it would be a good idea to wear shorts to bed from now on. I normally do wear them but Marlene keeps our heat up kind of high and sometimes I just get too hot at night. I am not really complaining because I like it to be warm especially when I don't have Eric to sleep next to.

I let out a heavy sigh. I really need to get some sleep. I just went to bed two hours a go because I was working on a paper for school that is due by tomorrow. I wanted to finish it so I didn't have to worry about it tonight. I really hope Eric gives Skyler hell for pulling this shit.

* * *

"Hmm." I smile grows on my face as my face is being peppered with kisses. "Wake up princess." I can't open my eyes because I'm way too tired. There is no way it is already time to get up.

"What time is it?" I groan as he moves his way down my neck, over my chest and to the exposed bare skin on my stomach. His lips feel so amazing. "It's four-thirty." He mumbles on my skin. "I thought maybe we could spend a few minutes together before everyone gets up and while Marlene is occupied in the infirmary."

"Uhh, babe." I whine. I have only been sleeping for two and a half hours. He stops kissing me and I look down to see his beautiful eyes looking into mine with a questioning look. Not once since we have been together have I ever told him no. Mostly because I enjoy sex just as much as he does and he always seems to know how to work me up when I am not quite in the mood. Oh well, it was bound to happen eventually. "Babe, I haven't even gotten four hours of sleep. I am too tired."

He groans. "Come on princess. It has been four days. I miss you." He kisses my stomach again and pulls at the top of my panties with his teeth. I love it when he does that, but I am just way to tired for that right now. I put my hands on his head and he lays down on my stomach so that I can see his pouty eyes. "I will kick Marlene out tonight, I promise. Please just let me sleep." He groans again. "Fine." He says sulking that he didn't get his way and goes to get up but I pull on his arm stopping him. "Stay with me, Just until I fall asleep. Please."

He takes a deep breath thinking about it for a moment. "Move over." He finally says. I quickly move toward the wall and he lays on the bed next to me and I notice he already has taken off his boots and socks. He really did think he was getting some. _Poor guy._ I cuddle into his side as he wraps his arm around me pulling me tighter to him. "Ugh, as if telling me no wasn't bad enough, you have to torcher me too." I hold in my laugh and sigh deeply. I miss this so much. Being wrapped in his arms as I fall asleep. Even if he is grumpy, I want to stay like this forever. "I love you babe."

I feel him kiss the top of my head. "I love you too princess. Now sleep before I change my mind." I chuckle this time and close my eyes, letting sleep find me again.

* * *

I wake to up to my alarm. As I turn it off, I see it is six fifty-five. _What the hell?_ My alarm should have went off at five forty-five so I could get in a run before breakfast. It had to be Eric. He must have changed it before he left. I am not sure how long he stayed because it took me all of two minutes cuddled up to him to fall back asleep.

Considering it took me over thirty minutes to go back to sleep when Four woke us up this morning, it was an improvement. Having him next to me is just so much better. With a deep sigh, I get up and grab some clothes quickly so I can get to breakfast on time. I change before brushing my teeth and my hair. I throw my hair up in a pony tail before I grab my jacket, keys and cell phone.

Stepping into the mess haul it is after seven and everyone is already here. I see a bunch of people turn my way but I just ignore them and go dish up my food. The staff has went back to mixing between the two tables and most of the seats next to the staff are already taken. No one is sitting next to Eric which gives me the perfect opportunity to sit next to him. I sit down between Eric and Jeff. _Just like old times!_ If I didn't know any better, I would think they did that on purpose.

Uriah and Paulo are sitting across the table from us. "Nice of you to join us little sister." Paulo says with a smirk on his face. Something tells me he already knows why I'm late. "Well it seems my alarm clocked didn't go off when I expected it too." I kick Eric under the table and I see a smirk pull at his lips but he manages to keep a straight face. "You should really have that looked at." He tells me trying to seem like it is nothing. "Yeah, I will get right on that. Or maybe I should just make sure people don't sneak into my cabin anymore." I say quietly so only the people sitting closest to me can hear. Jeff, Uriah and Paulo all laugh. The staff at the other table look at us weird.

"So what did I miss at P.T. this morning?" I ask no one imparticular but I know exactly who will answer me. "We are having a Thanksgiving dinner tonight. Max wants you to help out Chris today. Everything else is business as usually." Eric tells me in his 'all business' voice. "Well except Skyler. I will be running the shit out of his ass today." A chuckle escapes my mouth. "You do that. That little shit interrupted what little bit of sleep I was suppose to get last night."

"Yeah." Eric says quietly looking deep in thought. I really hope he isn't too disappointed about this morning when he woke me up. "You know Dani, I think Eric here is rubbing off on you a little too much. You're starting to sound a little sadistic." I don't bother replying to that, I just roll my eyes at Uriah.

I turn back to Eric and lean close to him whisper as a thought hits me. "What about Tris?" I have been trying not to leave Tris in the classroom by herself with the cadets and especially not all day. "We have it covered." I know we can't get into it with the cadets there so I just nod for now and put it in the back of my head to ask him later.

Eric pushes his leg against mine making me smile before he leans in to talk in my ear. "And in the future, try and not embarrass number boy, okay." He pulls away and I see that smirk flash on his face before he switches back into instructor mode. "Skyler!" He shouts making half of the cadets jump in their seats and I have to try hard to hold in my smile. "Outside now!" Skyler looks just a little worried as he empties his tray and follows Eric outside.

 _Wow._ He obviously knows about the whole situation this morning with Four and that was not how I expected him to react. At least that is an improvement but I am sure that it has to do with the fact that he knows Four is with Tris and that he probably was more embarrassed than I am.

Harrison comes over and sits in Eric's empty seat. "So Paulo, looks like I am sticking with you today since Jeff is taking over Eric's spot for the day." Paulo nods his head as he takes another bite of his bacon. "So what is the kids punishment?"

"Running." Paulo and I both answer at the same time. We laugh at each other before Paulo continues. "Eric will make him run for all of his spare time today."

"So he will still go to his classes?" Harrison questions. "Yeah, only the really bad ones get out of class too." Paulo says as he looks to me and I glare at him. Harrison picks up on our exchanges. "And I take it you experienced that." He says looking at me. I glare at Paulo again before looking down at my food. "I sure did."

"So what did you do?" I can't help but smile. "I basically told him he couldn't control me." I laugh again remembering his expression when I told him he couldn't make me eat. "He didn't take it to well." He made me run until I collapsed from exhaustion." Some of the cadets looking at our look over to me in shock.

"Actually I think it was the fact that you told him to _fuck off_ that really pissed him off." Paulo say with a ridiculous grin on his face. "Well that took some guts." Harrison says looking a little surprised.

"Yeah, probably not one of my smarter moments. He definitely is not one you want to piss off. I spent the rest of the day in the infirmary." I speak a little louder so I know the cadets can hear me. Maybe they will think twice before they do something stupid.

"So Dani, I heard you gave Four a little show this morning." Paulo says a little quieter trying to hold in his laugh. I look up at him and then over to Four at the other table. He hasn't looked at me once since I walked in. He just keeps his head down at his food. Harrison, Uriah and Jeff all raises and eyebrow at me. "Fucking shut up before I hit you, I was half asleep." Tell him quickly as I feel my face heat up and he starts laughing. "Ahh, don't be embarrassed. I am sure he enjoyed it."

"Paulo I swear if you don't shut up I am going to stab you with my fork."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, now you have to tell me what happed this morning?" Uriah ask getting all jumpy and Paulo laughs. "Apparently, sleepy head over here doesn't like getting woke up and temporarily forgot she had went to sleep in just her underwear." _What the fuck?_ "I wasn't just in my underwear you ass. I had my sleep shirt on."

"You mean that tight barley there tank top that leaves nothing to the imagination." Harrison says trying not to laugh. It occurs to me that he saw me in an almost identical one the other night when I went to their cabin looking for Jeff. I don't think my face could possibly get redder. At least I had shorts on that night. "I sure wouldn't have mind to seeing that. Although Four probably didn't even appreciate it." Uriah says with a big smile and all four of them start laughing. _What the hell is this, pick on Dani day?_

I lower my voice to just above a whisper. "Oh my god you guys are hopeless. Look I know being here you're all extremely sex deprived, so please go out and find some ass, so you can stop jacking off thinking about mine." I quickly stand up with my tray not even caring that I haven't finished my food "Oh come on Dani, we're just messing with you." Paulo tells me trying to stop his giggles. "Whatever, I'm going for a quick run before I have to come help cook. See you guys later."

I turn and leave with them all giggling and whispering to each other still. I don't even want to know what they are saying.

I go outside and sure enough, Eric is running along side Skyler barking orders at him. I can't help but smile and as they pass me. He slyly gives me a wink before continuing with his verbal assault on Skyler. I hurry to my cabin and pick up my Ipod. Since Eric is running Skyler, I will just go run in the gym. Besides, it is much warmer in there.

As I am reaching for the handle to the gym I hear someone call my name. Turning around I see Harrison jogging up to me. "Hey, I just want to apologize for what I said at breakfast." _Seriously._ I shake my head. I really didn't care, I just didn't want to stick around and listen to them talk about me. "It isn't a big deal. Most of my friends are guys. I am use to it and to be honest, I have heard much worse."

"Well not that it wasn't true but it still wasn't very gentlemen of me to say it and I just wanted to make sure you weren't mad at me." I laugh at him. He didn't start it, Paulo did and besides, his comment wasn't really that bad. "Like I said, your a guy. It's to be expected. All the guys here pick on me because they know I can take it."

"Yeah, so I have noticed. You really are something different." I smile at him because I seem to hear that all the time. "I know." I tell him because it's true. "Anyways, I want to get in a quick run before I have to get to work."

"By all means, don't let me stop you." He says with a cute little smirk. "See you later." I tell him and turn to go inside.

* * *

We finish up the evening P.T which I had decided to join in since I really didn't get much of a workout in this morning. Not to mention I ate way to much for dinner. Chris had went all out for Thanksgiving dinner and cooking Thanksgiving dinner for twenty-six people is no small feat. Especially when the majority are young adult males. We spent a good part of the day cooking except the little break I got earlier in the day before lunch since we had gotten all the deserts done and all the prep work.

It actually was pretty relaxing spending time with Chris. She had me laughing all day long as we cooked. By the time dinner rolled around we had a huge buffet of all kinds of delicious foods. Chris baked a huge turkey with stuffing. We made candied yams, green bean casserole, vegetable salad, mash potatoes and gravy, pumpkin bread, and dinner rolls. We even made pumpkin and apple pies for desert. It truly reminded me of home.

It was sort of a family tradition with my family to have a big dinner. Mom was always an incredible cook and is great at putting on holiday parties. There wasn't one year that we didn't have over a mass of people for Thanksgiving dinner. Our home was always open to anyone in our family that didn't have anywhere to go and their was always those that came every year. Of course that usually meant me and my sisters in the kitchen for two days helping her cook because with my mom, it was never 'just dinner'. We cooked all kinds of candies, made dips and snack trays, everything needed to keep a bunch of people happy and having fun all day long. I never really cared that I had to help prepare. I loved helping her cook and when you see everyone happily enjoying all the food, it always made the work worth it.

This year is the first time I haven't been home for Thanksgiving. It kind of made me a little sad, but I was able to put on a brave face all day. After spacing out a few times think of everyone back in Chicago, I decided after lunch to do a skype chat with everyone back home. It was really nice to see my parents and brother again. Several of my uncles were at the house as well and they all were curious about what was going on in my life. Mom went off and starting bragging about how I was doing so good and how she was so proud of me. Even my dad seemed to have his head up higher. After the call I felt a whole lot better.

I am brought out of my thoughts as Eric dismisses everyone. I give him a quick smile before turning and heading back to my cabin to take a shower. Harrison is following close behind me. He has been a little weird this afternoon which is really confusing since he was trying to be all nice this morning. At lunch and dinner I couldn't help but notice him giving me this confused look. It almost reminded me of how Eric use to look at me when he knew I was keeping a secret from him. It is a little unnerving actually. I know Jeff kind of hinted that I had issues the night I stayed in their cabin and I just hope, he doesn't push me to tell him like Eric did.

I feel hear him closing the distance on me and it is makes me more nervous. "Hey Dani." I just keep walking with my head down, trying to shake the awkward feeling. "Hey."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did." Man I am starting to sound like Eric. I don't mean to sound so rude but I just don't have a good feeling about this. "No seriously, can I ask you something." I stop and turn around since I am almost to my cabin. Something about his tone sounds off and now I am slightly curious. "Fine, what is it?"

"What did you and your boyfriend get into a fight about the other night?" _WHAT?_ "Are you serious? I really don't think that is any of your business." I really can't believe he just asked me that. He gives me an odd look like he is debating on what his next words are going to be. "I mean, was it because of another guy?" _Holy shit._ First off, how the hell could he possibly know that, and second, what the hell is it to him that me and Eric were fighting about another guy. I really don't even know what to say right now.

"So does he suspect there is something going on between you and Eric?" My mouth drops open as I try to comprehend what the fuck he just said. What does he mean? Does he think I am cheating on my boyfriend with Eric? _Eric is my boyfriend._ How the hell does he even know there is something between me and Eric? I look to the dorms and all the instructors and cadets are already back inside.

He continues when I don't answer. "I know you have been sneaking around with Eric. I always thought it was a little odd how you seem so comfortable and playful with every guy here except him, but I never really thought it was because of that. I guess the fact that you two always seem to disappear at the same time makes sense now. Honestly, I just never thought you would be that kind of girl."

I am shocked speechless and just continue to stand there and stare at him. He shakes his head, turns toward his cabin and walks away without another word.

 _WHAT THE FUCK!_

* * *

 **Well, well, well. The cat is out of the bag. Sort of...Let me know what you think. All reviews and comments are welcome. How did he find out? More to come soon. Until next time!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey Everyone. Here is the chapter you were all waiting for and it is a good one. Enjoy!**

This story is rated M/MA for Lemons, language and situations. Not appropriate for younger readers!

Disclaimer: All divergent characters belong to Veronica Roth, all original characters are mine. V.R. characters look like those in the movie. Hope you all enjoy, reviews and thoughts are welcome.

* * *

 **Chapter 16**

 _(Sunday, November 29th)_

I have been really irritated the last few days. I haven't been able to get the conversation that Harrison and I had out of my head. Well, if a conversation is what you want to call it. Really it was just him spouting off at the mouth not know what the hell he is talking about. He has pretty much been avoiding me the last few days and I have been over it in my head several times trying to decide what to do.

On one hand, my personal life is really none of his business. I even find it a little funny that he thinks I am cheating on my boyfriend instead of figuring out the truth. If he had any common sense, he would realize that Eric is my boyfriend. Yes, I act different around him because we are trying to keep our relationship strictly professional which is not something we can do half way. Either we are cute and touchy or we are serious and controlled at all times.

As much as I really would like to just let out the fact that Eric and I are together, I know Eric is trying to prove to Max that at work, he can put his personal feelings aside and focus solely on his job. I know last session he got in a lot of trouble because of everything that went on between us and I feel like now Max is testing him. Although I understand Max's reason, I still don't like it.

Four doesn't even want Tori's position. Tris told me herself that he doesn't care if Eric gets it. But when I told Eric that, it didn't change his attitude about it one bit. If he is anything, it is one hundred percent committed to doing his job. That being the case, I'm supporting him in his decision to keep our relationship to ourselves. The others have done pretty well at not showing theirs as well. Four and Tris were never really the PDA type to begin with but their relationship had to be exposed during training for safety reasons and with a growing belly, she should only hide it for so long anyway. As for Marlene and Paulo, I don't think anyone knows besides me, Eric and Jeff. They have been hiding it from Max for quite some time so that it wouldn't inhibit their time together here at camp. I have to admit, they're much better at hiding it then Eric and I are, but I for the life of me, don't know how they do it.

On the other hand, I do not like the fact that Harrison's words insinuated that I was some kind of slut. I am most definitely not a hoe and the thought that someone would actually think that low of me is irritating. I really wanted to just smack him in the face after he said that to me the other day and if he would have continued to stand there in front of me, I probably wouldn't have been able to control myself any longer. He has no idea what I have been through in my life and he really doesn't have any right to judge me. Not to mention, part of me thinks he is jealous since he obviously was checking me out the first week we were here and he probably is upset it was Eric instead of him.

The other thing that has been bothering me is how the heck he figured it out. He seemed fine at breakfast that day and then all of the sudden, at lunch, he was acting weird. Eric and I have been extremely careful to limit our contact to only when we are alone or when we are around Marlene and Paulo. Granted, Eric has snuck into my cabin several times while it was just me, but he is always careful not to be seen by anyone. He knows all the camera blind spots which he uses to his advantage. He has even went as far as jumping through the back window so people don't see him coming into the cabin when I am here alone. Something he did do on Thursday afternoon, when I went back to the cabin before lunch.

I am not sure how, but Harrison had to of seen Eric coming through the window or maybe back out it. None of it makes sense because no one ever goes behind the cabins except maybe me, and now that their is another cabin behind mine making it even harder to see. Tori's cabin is behind mine but the side of her cabin faces the back of mine and there are no windows on the side so you can't see in mine from hers. Thursday was no different than any other time.

 **Flashback (Thursday)**

As I am walking back to my cabin, I see Eric leaving the gym. He looks a little irritated but as soon as he sees me, the look on his face softens and he walks over to me. "Hey princess."

"Hey babe. What are you up to?" He rolls his eyes and I know it's the source of the irritation that was just on his face. "I was checking on Jeff and the cadets. Zeke is teaching today's class but I still wanted to make sure everything was going ok. You know, kind of like Tori does through out the day. Just to check up on everyone. What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be in the kitchen or something?" He smirks at me trying to hold in his smile. I let out a humph. _Really in the kitchen?_

"Ha ha ha, what do you think I am going to be that barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen type of wife?" His smirk grows wider on his face. "That would be something to see." He jokes but I can tell he is half serious."Keep dreaming buddy." He licks his lip staring at me for a minute letting out a soft grunt but wisely doesn't say anything else on the subject. It occurs to me that I just insinuated that one day we will get married and have kids, in which he didn't bother to say anything to the contrary. Not wanting to sour his playful mood I just push the thought aside. "So anyways, where are you going?" He ask instead.

"Chris and I have finished pretty much all we can until after lunch. She suggested I go work on my school work since we have an hour until lunch still." I see the wheels turning in his head.

"Well isn't that a coincidence because I don't have nothing to do for the next thirty minutes. Maybe I should cash in that rain check that you gave me this morning." His sudden low seductive voice stirs up my body and it is instantly on fire. "Well maybe you better hurry up and find a way to sneak off to my cabin." I tease him shaking my eyebrows at him and walk away toward my cabin hoping he took my comment serious.

As I reach my door, I see him walking swiftly to the instructors dorm with clear intent on his face. I go inside and lock the door behind me to make sure we aren't interrupted if someone does show up. The curtains are closed so I don't really have to worry about them.

Within a few minutes, I hear him tapping at my window. Smiling I go and unlock it. These little meeting make me feel like a little kid trying not to get caught breaking the rules. Well I guess we kind of are, we just aren't kids. He slides the window open and jumps through the it almost before I can even step back to give him room. I love how young and playful he looks right in this moment.

"Miss me did you?" I ask him as he turns back to close the window he just came through along with the blinds. He doesn't answer me, he just grabs my hand leading me to my bed where he sits down and pulls me to him so that I am standing between his legs. "I will take that as a yes." As I laugh, he gets that adorable smile on his face and removes his jacket.

His face slowly turns serious as he begins pulling up my shirt slowly untucking it from my pants without taking his eyes off mine. As soon as the the skin of my stomach is exposed, he kisses it just like he was this morning causing an moan to escape from my mouth as my hands find their way into his hair. "You know." He says staring up to me. "Not that I am saying it should happen anytime soon or anything, but the thought of you barefoot and pregnant, fucking turns me on." He kisses my stomach again and then adjust his pants as if trying to prove his point.

I am shocked at his comment considering the reaction I got from him when I told him about the pregnancy test the day we got here. "So you do want kids?" I can't help but sound sceptical because really I am having a hard time believing what I just heard come out of his mouth.

"Um, maybe _a kid_ and like I said, not right now, but yeah. In the future, having a kid with you would be ideal." Just the though of being his wife stirs every emotion in me possible. He is telling me that he wants to marry me some day and even have a baby. He is right, that is such a turn on. Smiling, I push him down on the bed and crawl over him. "Sounds good to me."

Our lips crash together with over heated passion and we don't stop until we are both lying naked and breathless.

 **End Flashback**

That was truly unforgettable. I had worried for the several weeks that maybe he didn't want kids at all. It isn't a that I was dying to have kids anytime soon but I did always want to have kids. His words were like a weight off my shoulders and it was so comforting to know that he thought about our relationship in terms of our distant future.

After Eric had made love to me, he had dressed quickly grabbing his coat and jumped back out the window to go make Skyler run before lunch. After getting cleaned up and fixing my hair again, I set off for lunch. I even made sure to remove the grin off my face before I walked out the door in case someone saw me. I am just dumb founded how he could possibly have known Eric was there.

I did attempt to approach Harrison yesterday but he just walked away from me. I was going to politely explain the situation but after he did that, I decided he doesn't deserve to know what the truth is.

"So are you going to tell me why you are trying to kill that punching bag?" Eric ask me pulling me out of my thoughts as he hits the bag next to me. I don't answer him right away because I really didn't realize I was hitting it so hard, but now I notice a dull ache in my knuckles. "You have seemed...a little off for a few days. What's bothering you?" I haven't told him about the conversation with Harrison, mostly because I didn't want him to worry about it, but I have to tell him sometime and now is as good as any.

I take a deep breath and resume punching the bag. "Harrison stopped me the other day and said something that irritated me a little." He raises an eyebrow at me. "And what was that exactly." I can tell he doesn't like the sound of that. He stops punching the bag and looks around the gym before looking back at me. Paulo, Jeff and Uriah are all around us working out, but they aren't paying attention to us.

Thinking about my words I stop and turn toward him. "He thinks I am cheating on my boyfriend." His eyes pull together, looking confused. "He thinks I am cheating on my boyfriend with you!" I explain further.

His face changes into a smirk and he actually laughs confusing the shit out of me. "What are you laughing at?" I ask getting a little mad at him. "What a fucking dumb ass." He says going back to punching his bag.

"That is all you have to say." I'm getting even more irritated. _Doesn't he get it?_ He must see my frustration. "What do you want me to say? If that is what he wants to think then screw him. He's an idiot, don't mind him." He seems to genuinely not care, he doesn't get it.

I put my hands on my hips and glare at him even harder. "Do you realize that by him assuming that, he is insinuating I'm a slut? I am so happy you are perfectly fine with that." I go to walk away from him.

I cannot believe him right now. So glad he doesn't mind people thinking of me that way. He grabs my wrist stopping me. "Babe. I didn't mean it like that." Looking back into his eyes something occurs to me and I bite my lip and glare at him.

"You know, you don't seem too surprised at all that he knew. Did you have something to do with him finding out we are together?" He takes about one second too long to answer me. "Why would you ask me that?" He's deflecting. _Guilty!_

"Why are you answering my question with a question?" Now I know he had something to do with it. "I don't know what you are talking about." He tells me but there is no conviction to his words. "Sure you don't. First you somehow let him know we are together. Then you are just going to just sit there and be okay with him thinking that me, your girlfriend, is a slut. Real nice Eric." I shake my head because I cannot believe he is okay with this.

I need to be by myself, he is pissing me off just as much as Harrison. "Come on princess, don't be mad at me." I glare at him and pull my wrist out of his hand. "You know what, I am just going to go for a run on the trails."

"Babe, seriously. Don't be mad over this." The smugness in his face turns to concern. "I'm not. I just need to run out some of my frustrations." I tell him shaking my head. again. "I can't leave, I have dorm duty in twenty minutes. Why don't we go run the path?"

"Don't bother, I just want to run by myself. You finish here and I will see you at dinner." He looks uncomfortable but with the look I'm giving him right now, he knows not to argue with me. "Fine, don't be to long and make sure you take your phone." I roll my eyes. Him and his damn controlling nature.

"Don't worry, I have an appointment with Christian right before dinner." I seethe turning to walk away and he immediately wraps his arm around my stomach pulling me back against his chest. "Hey, please don't be mad at me." It is so hard to deny his pleading tone. I take a deep breath. I feel him lean down and kiss my shoulder. "Like I said, I'm not mad. Just frustrated that my boyfriend has a habit of being devious at my expense."

"Dani..." I don't want to hear it, especially when he calls me by that name so I stop him before he can say anymore. "Like I said, I just need to to get out these frustrations. I will be back by the time I have to see Christian."

"Sunset is just after four tonight, it will be dark before your appointment. Please be back before dark." I hold in the laugh threatening to escape my throat and settle for just rolling my eyes even though he can't see me. At least he is asking. "Fine." I don't turn back as he releases me because looking into his eyes will just make me fall under his spell. I walk over to the bench grabbing my jacket and Ipod before leaving without another word. I already have my phone in my back pocket so I don't need to go back to my cabin.

"Uh-oh, trouble in paradise." Paulo says with a laugh. "Fuck off dude." Eric volleys back and his tone satisfies me because I know he knows he fucked up. I let the door close behind me.

I quickly put my jacket on because it is rather chilly outside. Looking at my watch, I have about two and a half hours before I have to meet Christian. I could probably run up to the charcoal tree in less than an hour and it will take less than that to get back down since it is down hill coming back. As I am crossing the courtyard I put my head phones in and I see Harrison leaving the dorms. Great, the last person I want to see right now.

I must look really pissed off because he has a bit of a worried look on his face. He looks like he is going to ask me something but I just shake my head and turn my music up as I start running toward the back trail. I pass right by him and don't look back.

Hopefully the run will help me shake these feelings. I know I really shouldn't care what Harrison thinks, but I do. Not to mention the fact that Eric did something to let Harrison know we were together. I still would like to know what the hell it was, but I am so frustrated with both of them right now, I don't even want to talk to him about it.

Maybe Christian can help me out with this current predicament I am finding myself in. In fact, maybe Christian could invite Eric in there with me so Christian can help me explain all these frustrations I have had with him lately. He can be the sweetest man in the world and then he gets around other people or shit happens and he start acting like a possessive, overbearing jerk. Or maybe I am just an over emotional and clingy girlfriend. Or maybe I just need to stop over thinking all this shit.

Christian and I have already talked about me not letting myself over think things, but it just seems to be getting harder and harder. Work, school, boyfriend, new home, it is all just overwhelming to the point where I just want to get away from it all and be by myself. Like right now. I can just hear Christian standing next to me telling me that 'running away from your problems won't solve them'. He is probably right, but right now, in this moment, I feel this is where I need to be.

I push my legs harder as I get deeper and deeper into the wood. Yes, this is where I need to be. Lost in the nature where I don't have to worry about anybody or anything. Of course the problems will be there when I get back but for now I can just forget them all.

I take a deep breath. The forest smells so good. A fresh coat of rain fell early this morning. Everything is still damp and the moisture just intensifies all the smells around me. Even though the cold is setting in for the season, many of the trees here are pine and are still brilliant greens mixed in with the other trees that are a beautiful rainbow of red, orange and brown tones.

I love this place. I finally allow myself to smile and enjoy the setting around me. I get the feeling like when everything else in the world is wrong, I will be able to count on this place to make me feel right. I turn up my music up louder to drowned out the rest of my thoughts while I am still happy and just concentrate on pushing my legs as fast as I can while I sing the words of the song in my head.

 _Everyday is a new day_  
 _I'm thankful for every breath I take_  
 _I won't take it for granted, So I learn from my mistakes_

 _It's beyond my control, sometimes it's best to let go_  
 _Whatever happens in this lifetime_  
 _So I trust in love, You have given me peace of mind_

 _I feel so alive for the very first time_  
 _I can't deny you I feel so alive_  
 _I feel so alive for the very first time_  
 _And I think I can fly_

 _Sunshine upon my face_  
 _A new song for me to sing_  
 _Tell the world how I feel inside_  
 _Even though it might cost me everything_

 _Now that I know this, so beyond, I can't hold this_  
 _I can never turn my back away_  
 _Now that I've seen you, I can never look away_

 _Oh shit..._

 _what the..._

 _crack!_

"Uhhhh." I try to move but I hurt. I feel something wet dripping down my neck and then there's only darkness.

* * *

 **Yes, I know I am leaving with a cliff hanger but it is necessary. This chapter is a little shorter because the day is split in two. Also because I cut the love making scene from this chapter but there was a good reason, I promise. I am almost finished with the next one so hopefully it will be up in a few days! Please comment and review and let me know what you think! Until next time!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hey guys! I know you guys really want this chapter so here it is. I hope this chapter is what you were hoping for. Enjoy!**

This story is rated M/MA for Lemons, language and situations. Not appropriate for younger readers!

Disclaimer: All divergent characters belong to Veronica Roth, all original characters are mine. V.R. characters look like those in the movie. Hope you all enjoy, reviews and thoughts are welcome.

* * *

 **Chapter 17**

 _(Sunday, November 29th)_

 **Eric POV**

I fucking hate when Dani is mad at me. I know she is mad, even though she insist she's just 'frustrated'. With her, it is basically the same thing. _Talk about Frustrating._ I huff at the thought and notice that both Harrison and Jeff look up at me. I ignore them and continue staring at this weeks schedule that I am working on.

She's the one that is so damn frustrating. I don't even know why she is so mad with me. I just put Harrison in his place; in my own way. Yeah, maybe we were suppose to keep it under wraps, but my patience with Harrison hitting on her was spent and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity.

 **Flashback (Thursday)**

I jump out her window and straighten out my shirt. I hear a giggle coming from her behind me and I can't help but to smile at that sound. I use to say she was amazing but really she is beyond amazing. I don't even have a word to describe her. And that doesn't even include the sex. That is in a whole category of indescribable in it self.

She always feels so damn good. Being buried in her is the best place in the world and I swear I will never get enough of her. Every time with her is like the first and the way she says my name as she tightens around me is mind blowing all on its own. I love the thought that she is mine and _only mine_.

Watching Harrison around her the last few weeks has made me think a lot about our future. It has crossed my mind that if there was a ring on her finger, it would keep guys from always throwing themselves at her. It would be a permanent claim on her and would show everyone that she is taken. It's not only that thought. It has only been a few months but I really can see myself being with her for the rest of my life. Maybe even have a kid with her someday.

Before I met her, that wasn't even something I ever wanted, but being with her, nothing would make me happier than to have a baby that would be a piece of both of us, bonded together, forever. And now I know that is something she wants too which fills me with incredible joy.

I cut through between Dani's and Chris's cabins on the new path that leads to the two new cabin that belong to Max and Tori. If anyone was to ask, I could say I went to see if Tori was in her cabin even though I really know she went into town because I saw her leave from the office window.

As I emerge between the cabins I put my jacket back on. It is pretty chilly outside and I can really feel it in my pants. I bite my lip at the thought that I didn't clean myself up so my boxers are a bit damp from our activities, not that I mind.

I see Harrison about the same time as I look down to see my pants are still unzipped causing the cold chill in my pants. That fucker has been a never ending pain in my ass. I have had enough of his flirting and his 'I just want to be friends' act with Dani. I can see right through is sweet and innocent act and I know that look he gives her all the time. It is the same look I have seen on several other guys faces including the way Jeff use to look at her and sometimes still looks at her. But he knows better and I trust him never to overstep his bounds.

I saw Harrison stop her again this morning when she was on her way to the gym. She looked irritated but when they talked she ended up smiling at him and I didn't like it one bit. That should be me putting a smile on her face.

I look right at him and zip up my pants. He raises up a questioning eyebrow and the smirk on my face get even bigger as I look over to Dani's cabin. Looking back to him, I raise both of my eyebrows silently telling him, 'yeah I just came from her cabin' and I see the realization float across his face. Satisfaction fills my body. Lets see what he thinks about that.

Maybe now he will leave her the fuck alone. I hurry and go into the gym to grab Skyler to run laps. I want to see the color in her cheeks when she leaves. I fucking love knowing that I am the cause of it.

 **End Flashback**

Apparently he got the message loud and clear. Unfortunate for me, his dumb ass took it the wrong way thinking she was actually screwing around with me while she had a boyfriend somewhere else. I mean, is it really that hard to believe that she is with me. I know we are completely opposites and that she is probably way to good for me but she is mine.

I am fairly certain part of it is jealousy. Anyone with a half a brain can see he wants her and something tells me this is just another one of his games. I think he's secretly hoping that is the case because then he would have a small chance of getting in her pants. If I was the boyfriend and not a fling, he would have no chance and he knows that. Well he can fuck off. _She is mine_.

I look at my watch getting a little antsy to see her. I really dislike that she went running up in the woods alone. I know there's nothing to really worry about but it still makes me nervous. Shit I get nervous just not seeing her for a few hours. The only time I feel right is when I can see her. Any other time, I feel like part of me is missing and it is a feeling I hate. I take another deep breath.

"Are you ok man?" Jeff ask making me look up at him. I glare at him but I am really not irritated by him, just preoccupied with the thought that I can see her soon. "I'm fine!" I tell him hoping he will back off. With another look he seems to get the point.

The door to the office swings open and a flustered Christian walks in. That look on his face puts my nerves on high alert. He looks at me before he even closes the door. _Great_ , their session must not have went very well and with that worried look, something tells me I am not going to like what I hear.

"Eric, have you seen Dani?" I am instantly confused. "What do you mean, she had an appointment with you." Realization hits me before he can even respond. _She never showed up._ "She didn't show up. I have spent the last fifteen minutes looking around the camp for her but she isn't anywhere."

"And you are just now fucking checking with me!" I shout at him and pull out my phone to call Will. "Get your ass to the office NOW!" I shout in the phone trying to keep my control but it's fading face.

My eyes glance outside and the sun has completely set. The only light I see, is coming from the lights on the buildings. Christian is on his phone but I ignore him. He should have came here first and not wasted his time looking around for her. I start pulling up the application on the computer but I have to wait for Will to log in. I don't have access to her.

"Eric what's going on?" Jeff ask obviously picking up that something is not right with Dani. Will comes running into the office. "What the hell is wrong?" He ask in a rush. "Track Dani's phone now!" He looks at me confused and I have no patience for this. "NOW!"

That finally gets him moving and he sits down quickly and logs in. "Eric, what the hell is going on?" I hear Jeff ask again and I feel everyone's eyes on me. Max comes in the office looking a little worried. _Fuck._ Christian must have been on the phone with him.

"What is going on?" Max ask but my eyes are glued on the GPS searching for her phone signal. Thank god there are trackers in our phones. "I don't know, Eric is going crazy and won't say anything." Jeff says. _Fucking application, hurry up!_

"Eric?" I can't say anything, I know something is wrong, I know it. "Eric!" Max is losing his patience. Fuck him, I don't care. If this thing doesn't fucking hurry I am going to fucking go insane.

I feel a hand on my shoulder and I shake it off, but it returns more firmly this time so I turn around about to knock out whoever it belongs too. I see Christian standing there with a load of concern on his face. "Eric, I need you to tell us what is going on so we can help her." His firm voice and the words 'help her' brings me back into the fact that I have four sets of eyes looking at me like I am a caged lion that is about to escape. I take a deep breath and collect my thoughts.

"She was pissed earlier." I send a quick glace to Harrison because this is partly his fucking fault. "She decided to go for a run on the trials. I tried to keep her here but..." I shake my head because there is no controlling that girl. She does what she wants when she wants, especially if she is mad. "That was hours ago. She promised me she would be back before dark. She wouldn't miss her appointment with Christian. If she isn't here something is wrong."

"Why would you let her go by herself?" Harrison ask me and I am one second from beating the shit out of him. "How long is it going to take you to get it through your head that NO ONE controls her but HER. Not even me."

"Eric, control yourself!" Max says sternly and I feel Christians hand tighten on my shoulders. I realize my hands are fisted so tight, I am fairly certain my nails digging in my hands are drawing blood. _Calm Down Eric, Fucking Calm Down!_ I take a deep breath and loosen my hands.

"I got her!" Will shouts and my eyes shoot back to the screen as I feel everyone gather around the desk. "She is almost five miles up trail eight." Will say but I am already grabbing my jacket and put it on.

"Will send the coordinates to my phone!"

"I will go with you." Harrison says quickly and I turn on my heels. "No!"

Max steps in front of me. "Someone needs to go with you. He is the only one in the room that can keep up with you. Do you want to waste time waiting for me to go get someone." I fucking hate that he is right. I look back to Harrison again. "Fine, you better be able to keep up."

I go to the supplies locker, grabbing two flash lights, throwing one at him without looking back. I also grab one of the hiking back packs that we normally take in case of an emergencies on hiking days and pray I don't need the medical supplies inside. Swinging it on my back, I turn and out of the office not waiting for Harrison, but I hear him hot on my heels.

"Eric?" Four shouts at me as I run pass the dorms to the trail. "I don't have time, talk to Max!" I say as I run past him.

Trail eight, that would be the trail to the tree. Of course she would pick one of the steeper trails and on a day it had been raining. _No sense of self preservation._ As I cross into the tree line, I notice everything is all damp again. It must have rained again sometime in the last hour. That is good. Hopefully I will be able to see her boot prints when I get closer. I need to pace myself, she made it almost to the top of the trail.

I hate that my mind is going to the worse possible thing it could be. There is almost no chance of here running into someone up here which means she had to have fallen. She is strong, determined. If she didn't show at camp it means she is too injured to move. _Please be alive_. My jaw clenches at my thoughts and I feel my eyes burning. _Stop!_ I can't think like that. She is alive and she is just hurt, she has to be, I need her.

I hope we meet her on the way up. Maybe it isn't as bad as I think, maybe she just got hurt and she had to slowly make her way back down. But facing reality I know that isn't the case. If she was ok, she would have called. Her cell phone is sending out a signal which means it is on and working. If she was ok, if she was awake, she would have called.

 _Calling!_ Why the fuck didn't I think about that first. I pull my phone out of my pocket and call her phone.

 _Ring, ring, ring, ring,_

I count the rings as I hear them; one, two, three, four.

 _Ring, ring, ring, ring,_

 _You have reached five-zero-nine, six-seven-four..._

"Fuck!" I end the call as the voice mail message continues. "Were you calling her phone?" I had completely forgot he was behind me. The last person I want following me right now but I may need help. There are some steep ridges along this trail, if she...I don't even want to think about it anymore. I just need to get to her.

"Yes, it went to voice mail." I tell him, mostly to stop my other thoughts. "Don't assume it is the worse. It may not be a big deal and all you will do is drive yourself crazy." I shake my head. He knows nothing about her. "Trust me, with her, it is always the worse. She is a magnet to bad things." And that is the absolute truth.

"You really care about her don't you." About fucking time you figured that out asshole! "Yes, I do!"

We run in silence for a few more minutes and I feel my legs burning. _Why the hell did it have to be this trail?_ If this was the one that goes through the valley, I would have already been there by now, but I have to be getting close.

I pull my phone out again and call Max, He picks up on the first ring. "Has she moved?" I don't know if I want know. "No, the signal is stagnant." _Fuck!_ My stomach knots up again. "Eric? Eric?"

"What?" I must have spaced out for a second. "I need you to focus son."

"I'm focused! I'll let you know when we reach the signal. We're almost there." I hear him sigh before I hang up.

I get the coordinates from Will's text and plug them into my GPS application. I'm close, really close. "Where almost there." Both of us are breathing hard, but I push my legs harder and ignore the heat burning in my thighs.

My eyes flicker back and forth between the trail and the phone. I know these trails like the back of my hand but it's dark and I need to be careful. It will do me no good if I get hurt before I reach her.

The GPS zooms in again as we are closing on the signal. _Closer._ I start shinning my light further ahead looking for anything to give me a sign she is there.

I am almost right on the signal. "Dani!" I shout out hoping I get a response. I listen carefully but I don't hear nothing. "Dani!" I shout even louder. _Come on baby, answer me._ I look down at my phone and come to a stop. I am right at the signal. I am having a hard time breathing but I don't think it is from running.

Harrison stops next to me. "She has to be right here somewhere." We both start moving our lights around to search for her. "Danielle, where are you!" I use my flash light to look up and down the trail. My hand is shaking and the more I look the more nervous I'm getting. The trail looks perfect, nothing is disturbed. _What if someone took her?_

"Dammitt Danielle where the fuck are you!" I yell as loud as I can. _Please, please, please._ "Dani!" Harrison yells looking down in at the steep ridge beside the trail. Fuck, she has to be here. The signal is right here.

"Eric!" My eye flash up to him and his light is fixed down the ridge. Before I can even comprehend it I am by his side and my eyes follow his light. _Fuck!_

Not caring I jump and make my way down the steep ridge. It is wet and muddy and my feet are sliding everywhere. It takes everything I have not to fall forward and tumble down the hill myself.

It only takes a minute to get down to where she is slumped up against a tree. I start at her chest and I let out the breath I'd been holding when I see her chest is moving steadily as she breathes.

 _Thank you lord!_

"Babe? Babe, can you hear me?" I shake her lightly but she doesn't respond. "Eric, her neck." I didn't even realize he followed me and my eyes move up to her neck. The is a long streak of dried blood running all the way down her neck. _Shit her head._

I move my fingers to follow the blood. "Careful." Harrison tells me and I feel around the back of her head. "She has a large bump on the back of her head but I think it has stopped bleeding." I start looking and feeling along her body. There are a few small cuts but most of it all looks superficial. "We need to get her back."

"The hill is too steep for just one of us to carry her up. We will have to do it together." For once, I actually agree with something he's saying. "Agreed. Grab one of her arms." I am worried about her neck but there is nothing I can do about that now. I hesitate for just a second. It is risky moving her without knowing the extent of her injuries, but right now I don't have much choice. I needs medical help, but it would take at least thirty minutes to get Marlene or some EMTs up here, and there is no way I am leaving without her.

I grab one of her arms and Harrison follows suit. We start back up the hill and it isn't easy. The rain has made just enough mud that my boots keep slipping down every time I take a step. Harrison is struggling just as much as me as we try grabbing little bushes and small trees to get some leverage. Somehow we make it to the top.

"Give her to me." I tell him once we make it to the top and I kneel down with her laying against me. "She's pale and cold." He tells me but I am already removing her jacket so I can put mine on her. The rain had soaked her clothes.

"Take the back pack." I say handing it to him and he throws his jacket down to me as he sees me take off mine. "Call Max, tell him the situation. We are going to need warm packs and blankets." I tell him as I finish pulling my jacket on her and then I lay his jacket over her lower half. Pulling her up into my arms, I stand and don't pause as I start running back to camp, holding her as tightly to my chest as I can. I hear Harrison talking to Max but his words are only a mumble in the background. I need to get back to camp now.

After sprinting up hill for five miles, it only takes another mile or two before I start to slow down. "Do you want me to take her for a few minutes." Harrison ask me right at my side. "No. Just keep that light in front of us so I can see where I'm going."

All the sudden a moan escapes her mouth and her head moves back and forth slightly. "Baby, baby can you hear me." I slow down just a little as I try to look down to her face. "Come on baby, open your eyes for me please. I need you to open your eyes and look at me." She lets out another small moan and then tries answering me, "My...prin..." Her eyes flutter but don't fully open. "That's it baby, come on, talk to me." I push my legs faster. She is talking, that is a good sign. "arming..."

It takes me a minute to figure out what she is trying to say and when I do I let out a laugh. For the first time since I heard she is missing, I feel like things just might be ok. "What the hell could be so funny right now?" Harrison ask sounding irritated.

I kiss her on the top of her head. "That's right princess. Your prince charming is here to save you!" Harrison looks at me like I am crazy but the hope in my heart gives me the extra push I need and I sprint toward camp.

As we break the tree line into camp Max and Paulo are waiting and I slow down but down stop until they step in front of me. My legs and arms feel like jelly. "Give her to me." Paulo says and I go to move around him. "I got her."

"Dammit, give her to me before you collapse and hurt her worse!" He demands. "It's alright Eric, you got her back here. Let us help." I growl at Paulo but only because he is right. I feel like I am going to collapse any second. I let him take her out of my arms and he takes off toward the infirmary. I start to follow but I stumble just a little until my arm is pulled around Max's shoulder and we run after Paulo.

We get into the infirmary and she is already on the bed and Marlene is taking her vitals. "Has she been out the whole time?" She ask. "She woke up for a minute as we were on our way back." I tell her still trying to catch my breath.

"Lucid?"

"She called me prince charming...what do you take that as?" She lets out a quick chuckle and I want to grin at Harrison's confused expression.

We all just stand there watching her. "Her blood pressure and heart beat are ok but her body temperature is too low. "Eric, I need you to start taking off her wet clothes, Max, help him put those sweats on her. Paulo, go get the blankets out of the dryer. Keep them as warm as possible."

Max and I both start taking off all her boots. "What can I do?" Harrison ask. "We got this." I tell him. I really don't want him to see her naked. He needs to leave. "Should I call someone for her or something." He better not be thinking what I thinking. "And who exactly would you call, her family lives in Chicago and I would prefer not to alarm them until we know the extent of her injuries."

"What about her boyfriend?" He ask smuggly. _Fucking dick!_ Marlene and Max both look at me. _Time to teach this fucker a lesson._ "You know what, go ahead and call him, Marlene, give him the number."

"Eric?!" Max says concerned. "No Max its fine." He doesn't seem mad and I know he can clearly see my irritation. Harrison pulls out his phone and Marlene gives him the number. "Five-zero-nine, six-seven-four." I watch him dial the number as she finishes giving him the number. My phone starts ringing in my back pocket and Harrison's eyes fly up to meet mine. I smirk at him.

"You? Your her boyfriend." _Yep, that's right you fucking dumb idiot._

"Oh, you mean the big, strong, overconfident, pig headed jerk that everyone talks about her dating. Yes that's me! And for the record, you basically calling her a slut was a good part of her irritation today."

"You called her a slut?" Max ask pissed off. _Ha!_ "No! I didn't call her a slut. Not really."

"Not really? I seriously suggest you elaborate on that." That's right Max, get him! I try to hold in my laughter. "I assumed she was cheating on her boyfriend with Eric. Obviously my assumption was completely wrong." I want to laugh out loud right now.

"Can we focus on her for right now?" Marlene ask getting quite pissy herself. Paulo walks in with the blankets. "Harrison, Max and Paulo, wait outside the room for a moment so we can get her dressed."

The guys move outside the door shutting it behind them. "Where's Jeff?" I ask Marlene now that I noticed he isn't here. That is completely unlike him. I expected him to be the first one here. "Max made him go back to the cabin. He was driving him nuts.

We get her pants and shirt off. There are a few bruises and she has some scratches but nothing looks too bad. The worse part is the large bump on her head, but Marlene insist she will be fine. After we clean her up and dress her, Marlene lets everyone back in the room.

"I think she will be okay. I will have to keep monitoring her because I am fairly certain she has a concussion from hitting her head and she is hypothermic, but other than that, she seems to be okay. It could probably have been a lot worse."

Yes it could have been much worse but I am still wondering how it happened at all. She loves to hike and she had been on that trail several time, she should have known to stay away from that ridge. It was wet but not overly muddy so I have a hard time believing she just tripped and fell over the side. Something just doesn't quite add up.

I pick up her hand. It still feels cold but it is warmer than it was earlier. I really hope she wakes up soon because I need some answers.

* * *

 **Well what did you guys think? I kinda feel like it didn't have everything but when I tried adding more, it just didn't flow well. Plus, I think it will work better for future chapters. Unfortunately, between Thursday last week and this coming Wednesday, I am working over 60 hours so I will not be posting another chapter for about a week, but I will do my best to get something posted on Sunday! Until next time!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey Everyone. I finally managed to get some writing time. I want to thank you so much for everyone who reviewed. You guys are my rock and even though my life has gotten a little crazy, you give me the strength to continue! I love you guys! I wanted to also tell you sorry in advance for any spelling and grammar errors. I didn't have time to read through it as many times as I normally do but I didn't want you have to wait any longer. So here is another chapter for you. Enjoy!**

This story is rated M/MA for Lemons, language and situations. Not appropriate for younger readers!

Disclaimer: All divergent characters belong to Veronica Roth, all original characters are mine. V.R. characters look like those in the movie. Hope you all enjoy, reviews and thoughts are welcome.

* * *

 **Chapter 18**

 _(Monday, November 30th)_

 _Oh my god._

Just kill me now. My head feels like its splitting in half. I moan at the pain and go to move my hand to feel the source of the throbbing pain on the back of my head but my hand is pushed back down. "Hey, hey, just relax." Not the voice I was expecting to hear.

I slowly open my eyes but the brightness coming in through the window just intensifies the throbbing and I only manage to open them half way. "What the hell happened?" I ask Max regretting the noise I am creating as the pounding gets worse.

He lets out a little huff and gives me a half smile. "Well that is something we were hoping you could answer for us." I close my eyes again trying to remember what happened. "All I remember is running up the middle of the trail and the next thing I knew, everything was spinning and then that's it. I don't remember anything else. How did I get back here?"

I look down at my clothes. "Who changed my clothes, and how long have I been out?" It's light outside, no way it has only been an hour. My head and my whole body aches all over, but something tells me the stiffness I feel is from sleeping for a long time.

"One question at a time kid. Eric tracked your phone. Him and Harrison went after you."

"Harrison?" What the hell would he come after me for? "Yes, he was the only one there when we figured out you were missing that I thought could keep up with Eric." My eyes draw together. "I know your upset with Harrison right now but trust me, he feels bad." _I doubt that._

"That wasn't what I was thinking, but it's good to know. I was wondering were Eric is." He was the one I expected to wake up to and oddly enough I can smell him so I know he has been here.

"He stayed the night in here with you, but he was up early so I made him go teach his class. I knew you would be ok and it was better then watching him burn a hole in the floor with his constant pacing. To answer your other questions, it is just after nine in the morning, and Eric and Marlene had to change you out of your wet clothing. Your body temperature had dropped and we had to get you warmed back up. Other than that you have a possible concussion from that bump on your head, but you should be ok."

"Easy for you to say, my head feels like it is going to explode." He laughs and walks over to the door. "Marlene, you want to get her some pain meds." He says slightly raising his voice as he talks out the door.

Marlene comes in a minute later and gives me two pills along with a glass of water. "You know, I think Max is going to have to keep me on staff just to take care of you." She jokes as she takes my vitals and checks the bump on my head.

"Ha ha ha, very funny." I tell her. I know I have kept her pretty busy since I have come here.

"You were actually pretty lucky. You have a few scrapes and bruises. Eric said they found you up against a tree. I am fairly certain it is what stopped you from falling the rest of the way down the ridge. Unfortunate for you, it was your thick head that took the brunt of the force. That bump on the back of your head is pretty nasty. Do you remember anything after you passed out?"

"No. Nothing." I tell her honestly. Although, I really wish I did. Actually I would be happy just to know how the hell I managed to fall into the ridge to begin with. I try to remember what happened just before I fell but I can't. I am running and then I am falling. It is so frustrating not to be able to piece this thing together. I am so stupid, I should have just stayed in camp or at the very least, stuck to the trails in the valley.

"Eric said you were talking coherently on the way back down so that is a good sign. Hitting your head is likely the cause of the memory loss, but I think you will be ok. You'll need to take it easy for a few days but you should be fine. Just let me know if you start getting dizzy, nauseous or if you develop any other symptoms." I nod my head and she goes back out of the room.

"You know kid, you really need to stop doing this to me." I turn my head back to face Max. His tone is sad and his face just intensifies the dreadful feeling that has planted itself in the pit of my stomach. He is completely serious. "You really scared all of us yet again. I have found myself in this room much more this year than I like to be and more times than not, you are the one on that bed." His eyes are cast down and his words feel so heavy.

"I swear Max, I don't know what happened and I didn't mean for this to happen. I never intend to end up in here, I promise." I plead hoping he believes me.

"I know you don't mean to. Its just..." He pauses bitting on the inside of his cheek as if contemplating something and I just stay quiet because I really don't know what else to do. He comes over and sits on the chair next to the bed.

"Did Eric ever tell you I had a son?" He looks at me with sad eyes. "Yes, he did, but that is all he told me. He said it wasn't his place to tell me what happened." A slight smile tugs at his mouth. "Yeah, Eric is good at keeping things to himself. Very few people here know about my son Chance. This place, the reason I do this, its for him; in his memory."

"He really was a good kid most of his life. I did my best trying to raise him without his mom around. She passed away when he was only six of breast cancer. Thankfully he was too young to remember what she went through that last year." He pauses and his hands come up so he rest his head in his hands as his elbows rest on his knees.

"Of course he wasn't perfect but he never really got in trouble until his was about fifteen. It started out so simple. He would skip school or stay out after curfew. I tried to keep him in line but I worked and there was only so much I could do. I soon found out that he had a new group of friends and began pulling away from me. Over the next few years, he got into a little trouble with the law here and there. Getting caught with small amounts of drugs and getting into fights. He some how managed to do good in school but his drug use kept him off the sports teams." He shakes his head, dropping his hands and fist them together in front of him. _Why he is telling me this?_

"He ended up doing a few small stints in juvenile detention. I didn't know what to do. I tried to keep him away from his friends and get him to stop smoking pot but the more I tried, the more he pulled away from me. Two weeks after he graduated and one month after his eighteenth birthday he was caught with two ounces of marijuana and was charged with distribution. Because of his several juvenile convictions, the judge gave him the maximum sentence of two years in prison. He was just a young man that made a few bad decisions that ended up deciding the rest of his short life." A single tear rolls down his cheek and I feel my own threatening to spill over.

"When I visited him in jail he swore to me he was done and he was going to clean up his act. He promised me that he was going to do his time and when he got out he would make up for the bad things he had done. It was a promise he never got to keep." More tears spill from his eyes and I can no longer hold back mine.

"Six months into his sentence he got into a fight. It happen to be with the head of a local gang who was mad he wouldn't join his little click. He was trying to lay low and stay out of trouble. Unfortunately, the guy he crossed didn't take kindly to not getting his way." He pauses and his eyes screw shut.

"He tried to teach my son a lesson by having three guys beat him within an inch of his life. He spent three weeks in a coma before his body finally gave out. He never had a chance to prove that he could be good but I know in my heart that he was good on the inside." He covers his face with his hands again and I see his shoulders heave as he holds in his quiet sobs.

"Max, I am so sorry." I put my hand on his shoulder trying to comfort him but I feel so helpless right now. He covers my hand with one of his own and he quickly tries to get a hold of his emotions.

"Its ok. I know he is in a better place with his momma. After it happened, it gave me a revelation of sorts. I honestly believe it would have only taken someone reaching out to him and he would still be here today. That was when I bought this place. I was determined to help as many kids as I could. To give them the chance my son never got. Our justice system is broken and this is my way of trying to fix it. Even if it is just for a small amount of the kids that end up there." He shakes his head and I know exactly what he is saying. Juvy doesn't help anyone, it is just a scare tactic and these days, it doesn't scare anyone.

"Every time I hear about the kids that come through here turning their lives around, it gives me the strength and happiness to continue on. Even though I wasn't able to save my son, I have been able to save so many others. I just hope one day when it is finally my time to join my son, he can forgive me for not helping him."

"Oh, Max. How could he not? You are one of the most honest, caring and compassionate people I have ever met. I am certain your son is extremely proud of you."

"I hope so. You know I see so much of him in Eric. From the minute Eric got here, I felt like I had an unspeakable connection to him. I know he had a ruff childhood in a way that most people never have to know. I never knew how much emotional abuse could affect a kid until I met him. Although he hides it well, it has caused so much turmoil in his mind. I was so determined to help him and he makes me so proud everyday."

"Which brings me to you. Its that determination, that fight, that stubbornness that you both share. Traits that you both shared with my Chance. I have grown so attached to Eric as if he was my own son and now I find myself becoming very attached to you. Not only because you remind me of Chance too but because you have made my other son so happy and I am so grateful for that." He stops and turns toward me gazing into my eyes as he puts his hands over my own.

"What I am trying to say Dani, is that I have begun to think of you as a daughter-in-law if you will, which makes it hurt so much worse when something like this happens to you. The last thing I want is to see is someone too young go before their time. I have seen more than enough of that in my life. You need to be more careful sweetie. Can you please promise me you will try to be more careful?"

The tears are just streaming down my face. I almost can't believe what he has just told me. I jump to the edge of the bed and throw my arms around his neck. "I promise Max. I am so sorry I made you worry." He squeezes me tight quickly before trying to release me but I just grip him tighter and he gives in after a moment, letting me hug him. This man is truly amazing. Everything that he has been through and what he has chosen to dedicate his life to is the bravest thing I can ever imagine.

"Am I interrupting something?" I look up and see Eric standing in the door looking extremely worried. I let Max go and quickly wipe the tears from my face.

"Everything is fine." Max tells Eric and then turns to look at me again. "You get some rest ok?" I give him a nod and then give him one more quick hug which seems to take him by surprise because he tenses up under my hold for a moment before he relaxes and hugs me back.

"I will give you guys some time alone. Eric, make sure you get to your afternoon class and let our girl here get some rest." He pushes me back down onto the bed and give me a kiss on my head. "Get well kid and I will be holding you to that promise." I give him another nod and he turns leaving the room, giving Eric a strong pat on the shoulder as he exits.

Eric makes his way over to me and sits on the bed behind me, pulling me back to lay against his chest. "Is everything ok?" He sounds almost nervous. Something tells me Max rarely shows his emotional side.

"He told me about Chance."

"Really?" His voice is so low I barely hear him. "He also told me he cares a lot about you and me. I guess me getting hurt all the time has weighed heavy on him. I feel really bad. He has been through so much without my drama."

"Well that makes two of us. Babe, I was so worried about you. What the hell happened?" His voice is still soft and I know he is right, this weighed heavy on him as well. Why is it I seem to hurt those I love so much. I take a deep breath to steady my voice before I speak.

"I'm not sure. Honestly. I was running and the next thing I knew, I was rolling down the hill. That's it. It is all kind of fuzzy and I am not sure what really happened. I don't remember tripping but it is all kind of spotty when I try to think about it. Next thing I know, I wake up here." Eric is quiet and I can just imagine the wheels turning in his head.

"So Max knows Harrison knows?" Max knew I was mad at Harrison, it is the only thing that makes sense. "Yes and he was awfully pissed that Harrison said that to you. He gave him a long earful once we got you comfortable and stable.

 _Good, he deserved it._ Eric's arms tighten around me. "Babe?" I lay my head back against his shoulder. "Huh?"

"I need you to promise me that you will be more careful." I let out a chuckle. "What could possibly be funny?" He ask irritated and he is obviously doesn't see the humor in this. "Max just made me promise him the same thing."

"Oh." I scoot my head to the side so I can look at him. His expression is quizzative and then his lip turns up slightly. "Well maybe you will listen to him." Geez, it isn't like I plan for this shit to happen to me. I roll my eyes and shake my head slightly.

"You know you scared the crap out of me yet again?" I look down and pick at the fuzz on my shirt. "I know. I'm sorry Eric." I really do feel bad that I worry him so much and I hate that he feels so responsible for it so often. I put my arms around his arms that are still wrapped around me.

I don't know why but I feel so damn vulnerable when I am with him. Tears threaten to spill over yet again and it makes me mad that I can't control myself. "Hey why are you shaking?" I didn't realize I was, I shake my head letting him know it is nothing even though I know it is a lie.

"Dammit Dani, you need to stop shutting me out. Please talk to me!" I turn and wrap my arms around his waist and he holds me tight. Why can't we just be happy? Why do I have to be the most unluckiest person on the planet? In the last few months, I have managed to almost kill myself, have someone almost kill me, almost be rapped, and then almost kill myself again. How long is it going to be before he gets tired of worrying about me. Tears begin to fall down my cheeks making me even more mad that I can't even control my stupid emotions.

"Baby, its ok, your ok. I am here for you." He says trying to sooth me, but I am not stupid. One day he is going to get tired of saving me. One day he is going to get tired of my endless streak of bad luck. One day, he will realize he deserves better and he will leave. All I can do now is enjoy being here with him until he figures out I am not worth it.

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 **I hope the wait was worth it. I had a hard time not crying as I wrote this so I hope it came across that way to your guys as well. Sorry it was a little shorter than normal but it was a bit of a filler chapter and also I wanted to fill in some information from the previous chapters that I had promised a while back. Now you know why Max is the way he is. Let me know what you think, all reviews and comments are welcome and appreciated Thanks again everyone and I will make sure to get another chapter up in the next week. Until next time!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hey Everyone. I am so super sorry it has been two weeks. I am working some crazy hours and I just haven't been able to write. Hopefully I will be able to get the next chapter up by next Sunday. Hopefully this one is enough to hold you over until then.**

 **I want to give a quick shout out to all my reviewers. You guys are always so great and nothing makes me feel better than reading your awesome comments. They are so inspiring. I also want to give my love to everyone who reads these books. You all inspire me to keep going and I promise, it ain't over yet! For now Enjoy this chapter.**

This story is rated M/MA for Lemons, language and situations. Not appropriate for younger readers!

Disclaimer: All divergent characters belong to Veronica Roth, all original characters are mine. V.R. characters look like those in the movie. Hope you all enjoy, reviews and thoughts are welcome.

* * *

 **Chapter 19**

 _(Saturday, December 5th)_

"Hey guys settle down. Tris isn't feeling good, so I will be teaching classes today." Tris has managed to come down with the flu. She tried to tough it out for the last few days but today, it got the better of her. Marlene says it is worse because she is pregnant so her immunity isn't as strong as it normally would be. Naturally this has made Four be all grumpy because he can't stay with her during the day, he has to teach his classes and get his own stuff done.

"If you guys will take out your nutritional charts and complete the worksheet I put on your desk. I will give you fifteen minutes to complete it." I hear several people moan and I note that it is Skyler and Alex, which doesn't surprise me one bit. I will have to mark that down. I am getting more and more use to the scoring system we use to track the cadets. I have been hanging back watching how Tris handles the classes and then we sit afterwards as she explains the scoring system. When we were told we are scored on everything we did when I was a cadet, they sure weren't lying. Even simple things like being rude to fellow cadets during meal periods can cause you to lose points.

Skyler and Alex start taking and I just know they are testing me. "You will be quiet as you complete your worksheet." I tell everyone in a stern tone and I hope they get the point I am not taking any of their shit. Skyler rolls his eyes and keeps talking. I raise my eyebrow as I start walking toward him. "I said you will be quiet and do your work!" I tell him a little more forcefully. He laughs and whispers something to Alex before I come to stop right in front of his desk.

"And what are you going to do about it?" He ask me with a grin on his face and there is no way I am going to let this fly. "I am telling you now, you don't want to go there with me cadet." He is taller and bigger than me but there is no way I am backing down. I will be fine as long as he doesn't touch me and if he is stupid enough to do that, he will get what he deserves.

He stands up to the side of his desk but makes no move to come forward. However, he is effectively showing he is bigger than me. "Well I can tell you where I _would_ like to go with you." He responds looking me up and down with a sly smile. Both of my eyebrows shoot up at his audacity and his grin gets wider. Just then the door opens and Eric walks in. It only takes him a second to assess the situation, but before he can react I speak up.

"Perfect timing Eric!" I say as a smile grows on my face and Eric immediately looks confused. "Like I said, you don't want to fuck with me." I say in a low menacing tone, before I speak up so everyone including Eric can hear me. "Eric, Skyler here asked me if he could go run with you for an hour and I was just telling him I think that would be a great idea!" Eric's eyebrow shoots up.

"I didn't say that!" Skyler quickly back tracks and takes a step back as if to show his words. "Oh, I think you did. Now get out of my classroom and next time maybe you will learn to keep your mouth shut." I say with a smirk on my face as I turn and start walking back to my desk.

"Let's go Skyler. Trust me, you don't want to piss her off even more." Eric says barely loud enough for me to hear. I glance over my shoulder to Eric as he is pulling Skyler out the door and he gives me a wink, his eyes shining with pride.

Once they are gone I look around at the five that are left and they are all staring at me. I immediately harden my face. "Anyone else got something to say?" I look directly to Alex who had managed to keep quiet during the whole conversation that just passed. They all shake there heads no. "Then get back to work! You got ten minutes to finish and you better complete it."

I turn around to the large dry erase board at the front of the room and start writing down the chart that we are going to be discussing. I can't help but smile at myself. I don't even think Eric could have handled it better. Although he did help a little and to his credit, he did it without questioning me which also made me extremely happy. He is not one to normally do things without an explanation, especially when I basically sounded like I was giving him an order. Yep, I am definitely where I am suppose to be.

When Skyler finally drug himself back into the classroom, he smartly sunk into his seat and was quiet for the rest of class. The second class went much smoother. I was a little surprised Eric hadn't come back in. I never did get a chance to ask him why he had come in to began with but I assume it wasn't important.

After my second class I decided to come back to the cabin to get some school work done. Teaching the classes today made me realize that I really like teaching and gave me even more motivation to finish my degree. It also helps being in this setting because it fits me even better. I don't know I would feel the same if I had to listen to a bunch of spoiled and disrespectful high schoolers in a normal school. At least here when they are disrespectful, I can do something about it.

It had never ceases to amaze me how much kids get away with in high school. The world today is so different than how it was thirty years ago. Kids have absolutely no respect for anyone these days. The world is so worried about rights of "kids" they have let all common sense go right out the window. I have no problem with trying to protect kids but they have just taken things too far. Then they wonder why parents can't control their kids anymore.

I close the laptop, I just can't concentrate enough to work on anything right now. I still have about forty-five minutes before lunch starts but before I can think of what to do there is a knock at the door. Being I don't expect Marlene, I know immediately who it is. I open the door to the smirk I know and love. "So if I ask to come in are you going to make me run laps too?" He questions. _Smart Ass!_

I roll my eyes at him as I turn around walking back into the room and sitting on my bed. Eric follows me in and I hear his rumble laughter that he is trying to keep quiet. He takes a seat next to me. "So are going to tell me what this morning was all about?" He ask trying to be non-chalant. "It was nothing really. He tried pushing my boundaries and I wasn't having any of that."

I look at him and he is looking at me with his lips pressed into a line as I can see the wheels turning in his head. "Well I hope he wasn't pushing physical boundaries." I glare at him. I cannot believe him sometimes. "Of course it wasn't and if he was, I am sure I could have handled myself." Hopefully he won't watch the video feed because while he didn't push physical boundaries, he did insinuate pushing them, but I am not about to tell him that. Beside I handled myself just fine and there is no reason for him to get mad.

He stares at me for just a few more seconds studying my facial expressions before his change and I can instantly see what is going through his head. He begins looking me up and down as he runs his fingers down my arm. "I have to admit, seeing you so controlling is fucking hot. What I would have given to kick all those little piss ants out of the room and have my way with you." His voice is so seductively sexy. I close my eyes as I try to hold in my short laugh. "Well, we are alone now." I look up to him bitting my lip, but I don't give him a chance to react. I push him down on the bed and crawl over the top of him. He thinks controlling is hot, well I can show him that.

I feel his chest rumble in silent laughter as I attach my lips to his neck. He taste like sweat, which is all my fault but I really don't mind. It has been a few days since we have had some alone time. I only spent a day in bed after my accident while running. I really wasn't that bad off, Marlene said I may have had a concussion but there wasn't much they could do besides watch me and make sure I was ok. Eric and Jeff gladly volunteered to keep an eye on me when Marlene wasn't around.

After a few days of them three hovering over me, I was done and told them to back off. Eric of course objected but finally agreed that I was ok and gave me a little more space. Space that was quickly filled since Tris has been getting sick and I have had to work harder on my school stuff because the quarter ends in a few weeks.

Eric sits up quickly bringing me out of my thoughts and takes over the control. Something I don't mind much, I love the control he shows when we are intimate. I feel so love and cherished. His hands always so warm and comforting as the move all over me. His lips find mine and he stands up quickly making me wrap my legs around his waist so I don't feel like I am going to fall even though I know he would never let that happen.

He starts walking toward the other side of the room. "Where are we going?" I mumble in between kisses. "I need a shower and since you volunteered me to run, I am volunteering you to help me get clean again." I feel his smile on my lips. "With pleasure." I tell him before I intensify my kiss. I feel him turn on the shower before he pulls my shirt up and over my head, our kiss only breaking for a second. I tighten my legs around his waist as he starts removing my bra and then his own shirt. His body is so warm and I can smell the sweat on his skin. It reminds me of all the workouts we did together back home which usually was followed by mind shattering shower sex.

Eric grabs my hips and squeezes me hard so that I release my legs from around him but I don't allow him to pull his lips away from mine. I pull his hair hard as he keeps his hard grip on me so I am forced to slide down him slowly before my feet hit the ground. He groans loudly and I can already feel a bulge in his pants. We both begin to unbutton each others pants and it takes seconds before we are both pushing each other's remaining clothes to the floor. I barely step out of mine before Eric grabs under my ass picking me up again as he walks into the steamy hot shower.

The space isn't very big but it is enough room for us both to fit comfortably and the smaller space has allowed the area to be fully engulfed by steam already. I don't know why but it seems to just intensify everything. Eric presses my back against the wall as he kisses down my neck and the temperature difference between his hot body and the cool tiles is almost over whelming. I let out a loud moan but it is muffled when he moves his lips over mine. I feel the familiar build deep in me stir and I am instantly yearning for more.

Suddenly he stops and pulls away from me setting me back on my feet. I look up at him with a questioning look. It is not in his nature to turn down sex. "I do believe you are suppose to be washing me up." He says with a devious smile. Ok, I know this game he is playing at. I bite my lip, smirking at him as I grab the wash cloth and soap off the holder.

"Ok, fine. Turn around so I can wash you up." His lips twitch slightly and he complies with my request. I lather the soap on the wash cloth and then slowly began to wash the top of his back and shoulders with one hand as I run my other hand over his skin more lightly to tease him. He places his hands on the wall in front of him and lets his head fall forward under the streaming water. I feel his muscles are tense so I begin to massage his back as I am washing it giving his entire back my full attention. After several minutes Eric lets out a relaxing deep breath and his muscles begin to loosen.

When I am satisfied he is more relax I move on. I put more soap on the cloth again before washing his tight ass. In a moment of inspiration I move my hands around him to grab his length. His previous erection has disappeared along with the tension in his muscles but the minute my hands find him, he begins to harden again. He lets me continue for a minute before he puts his hands over mine pushing them away.

"Come on!" I whine at him. I want him, and his hard dick is telling me the feeling is mutual. "Your not done princess. Right now it is time to take care of your prince." His playful tone is irresistible. I can't help but to giggle. "Fine." I say trying to sound upset but fail miserably. I move the cloth back to his ass and then move down his legs making sure to go as slow as I can stand.

"Turn." I tell him when I finish the back but stay crotched down and when he turns his harden length is right in front of me. I try to ignore it as wash the front of his legs.

Once I finish I look at it again before I stand and then look into his eyes. My mind really wants me to just take him in my mouth right now but he is reading my mind and shakes his head no. I stick out my lip pouting and stand. I can tell he is trying hard not to laugh at my pouting but he is successful in keeping it in. I resume washing him running the cloth slowly over his chest and stomach hoping he will finally give in and take me because I am getting really impatient. When I finish, I pull his head down so I can kiss him. After a short kiss he pulls away and turns me around taking the cloth out of my hand.

"My turn." He whispers in my ear. I am so ready to explode. He is torturing me and what is worse is he is doing it on purpose. He washes my back from top to bottom going painfully slow just as I had done to him, only I have no where near his control. "Eric..." I whine. "What princess?" He says and I hear the smile in his voice. "Is going slow driving you crazy?" He questions as he runs his lips along my neck.

His hand wrap around me and begin running over my stomach and then over my breast. "Yes." I whisper barely able to concentrate as his hands massage my chest. I can now feel his smile on my neck and he pulls my hair back to the side forcing my head into a position where his lips can connect with mine. When they finally do, desire explodes in me and the want I had for him is intensified times a hundred. I reach up pulling his face impossibly closer to mine. His finger travel down my stomach and over my folds, eliciting another moan from me. It seems to push his own sexual need because his fingers are in me so quick, I can't help but gasp. They begin to move quickly in and out of me as his thumb circles my bundle of nerves.

His foot spread my feet apart as he pulls me back from the wall slightly. His finger pull out of me and he breaks our kiss. He kiss down my neck for a moment before pushing my back down and I place my hands on the wall knowing what is coming. He spreads my legs a little further apart as he slowly runs his harden length against the outside of my most sensitive area.

I feel the water pounding against my back as he slowly insert himself into me with incredible control. His hands are tight on my hips so that I cannot move even though I am trying to push back against him. Once he is fully sheathed, he lets out a satisfied hum and then begins to move in and out at a leisure pace. "The best place in the world is buried in you." He says all breathy and I love hearing those words out of his mouth. I want so bad to move my hips but he hasn't let up his grip on me and he is showing his controlling side. I am completely turned on even more as I try to move back against his thrusting even though it is doing no good.

He finally begins to move faster as my pull builds slowly but intensely. He moves one hand to the center of my back and moves it lightly up an down my spine. It feels so incredible right now I could scream but I resist. In and out, he continues to pound into me with incredible force. His remaining hand on my hip is the only thing keeping me in place. He pushes my oncoming orgasm higher and higher, but just as I am getting close to my brink, he stops again. Before I can complain he turns me around quickly and picks me up. I wrap my legs around him and in a second he buries himself in me but pauses when he is fully in me. "Open your eyes." He says softly. "I want to see you."

I open my eyes to see his lust filled eyes staring into mine. As he begins to move slowly at first and then faster and faster, I see more. I see the worry, the sadness, but most of all, I see the love and it pushes me over the edge I had been teetering on. I am forced to close my eye as the feeling overtakes my whole body. He slams into me as my orgasm racks my body just intensifying everything running through me. Just as I begin to come down, I feel his grip tighten and then feel him empty himself into me before he stills himself and rest his head against my own.

"You are so incredible woman." He says shaking his head. He kisses my forehead before helping me stand up. He pins me against the wall and I am grateful because right now my legs feel like jello. "You know, your not to bad yourself." I tell him with a goofy grin. These stolen times away with him are always so satisfying. I pull him down and give him a sweet kiss which he seems happy to return.

"Turn around." I raise an eyebrow. "Again, so soon?" I question. "Maybe later." He says with a grin. "For now I think my princess still needs her hair to be washed."

Smiling I turn around and he messages shampoo into head and then rinses it out before repeating the processes with conditioner. When he is satisfied my hair is clean, he shuts off the water and grabs the towel, kisses me on the shoulder and then wraps it around me before he grabs one for himself.

We dry off and get dress. Lucky for Eric I have a few of his under clothes and shirts in my drawers. Just as we finish, Marlene comes walking in and gives me a questioning look as she takes in our freshly showered look. "Good thing I didn't come back earlier." I notice Eric roll his eyes but my cheeks heat up. He goes into the bathroom, probably to do his hair and I sit on the bed and begin brushing mine out. "Have fun did you?" She says a little quieter.

"Maybe." I say trying not to be embarrassed. It isn't as if she has never done it with Paulo or anything. I don't have anything to be embarrassed about. Eric comes out of the bathroom with his perfectly styled and comes give me a kiss. "See you guys at lunch." He says as he puts his serious face on but he gives me a wink before he leaves.

"Man, I don't know if I will ever get use to Eric being so nice and sweet." She says as soon as he walks out of the cabin. I just ignore her comment and grab the hair tie off the table next to the bed and throw my hair up into a messy bun. "So I actually came here because Max says you need to find him before your next class. Apparently you had an issue with a cadet this morning." I laugh.

"I guess you can say that. Skyler tried to get mouthy and made an inappropriate comment but I shut him down quickly."

"Yeah, I am guessing it was Skyler. I saw Eric running him into the ground earlier. Wait, does he know?" I shake my head no. "Yeah that makes sense. If he knew, he probably would have ended up in the infirmary."

"Eric just walked in at the end. It was my inspiration for his punishment. Running with Eric is the worse punishment you can get." She laughs. "You say that but you are the one who runs with him most nights."

"Yeah, but he almost ran me to death once, remember?" I begin laughing with her. "Yes, I don't think I will ever forget that."

* * *

"So, I here you had some trouble today." Max says as he looks through some paperwork on his desk. "It wasn't nothing I couldn't handle." I say trying to be confident. I must have been successful because he looks up at me with a smile. "That I saw for myself. I was keeping an eye on you earlier and I think you handled it perfectly. I just wanted to tell you to keep up the good work."

A wide grin spreads across my face. "I have told Tris to spend a few more days in bed so you will be on your own until Tuesday. You will be in charge of classes."

"You got it boss!" I say turning for the door. "Oh and just one more thing." I stop and turn back hoping it isn't anything bad. "No running on the trails by yourself tomorrow alright?" He says completely serious, his lips pressed into a tight line. "You got it."

* * *

I punch the bag in front of me working out the little bit of frustration that has lingered in me today. Eric had helped a lot with his impromptu visit but Skyler's attitude still bothered me a little. It didn't help that him and Alex had chosen to workout tonight as well. Although, they are more messing around then actually working out. I can see that Paulo who is spotting for Chris is getting irritated with their playing around. Most of the time we are in here, we take it pretty serious. This is the time of the day when we can work out all of our daily frustrations and it helps us keep it from building up.

Eric continues to punch the bag on one side of me while Jeff is on the other. Eric is going at the bag pretty hard. I have a feeling he has seen the footage of earlier because he seems much more tense then when he left me in my cabin earlier. If that is the case I really hope Skyler is careful. We really don't need another incident that would end up getting back to Max.

"Dani, your up." Paulo says to me. Eric goes to move with me but I stop him. "You look like you could use some more time on that bag, Paulo can spot me." I tell him with a wink. "You sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. You need to work out what ever is bothering you." He shrugs his shoulders and starts punching again. "Ok."

I offer my gloves to Chris but she shakes her head. "I am going to use the machine." I give her a nod as she steps aside to the leg press machine next to us. Paulo has already added some weight to each side of the bar and I count it. "Come on Paulo. I can do more than that." I hear the cadets who are at another machine near us snicker and Paulo glares at them, but keeps quiet and adds five more pounds to each side. I lay down and pull the bar off the rest, beginning my reps. I have been able to build up to quite a bit of weight.

It doesn't take too long for me to finish my ten reps and by then Chris is done as well. I sit up and Paulo gives me a quick pat on the shoulder telling me how great I did. He is always very encouraging when we work out. Not just to me but everyone he works with. The other boys at the bags seem to have had enough to since they have pretty much stopped.

Jeff goes over to grab a water out of the cooler in the corner. "Jeff, bring us some." Chris says sweetly and he nods grabbing a few extra. Eric walks over toward us. "You guys up for a run tonight too?" He ask.

"I am exhausted." I tell him. "Me too, I was moving boxes all day from the delivery we got." Chris says. Jeff comes over and hands Chris and I a water. "Tomorrow?" I say hoping soften the blow. He just lifts his eyes in agreement, but he doesn't look upset.

"Man." I hear one of the cadet say with a laugh.

"What was that?" Jeff ask getting into instructor mode. He sure is getting that down quickly.

"I was just saying that the guys here, let these girls walk all over them like a bunch of pussy whipped little bitches." Alex says smugly. I immediately jump up and stand in front of Eric grabbing his and Jeff's shirts hoping Chris has Paulo. When I have glance over that is exactly what she did to Paulo.

Skyler laughs, "See look at you." He points between the guys and me. I have to tighten my grip on both boys as they push against my hands. "Don't you fucking dare." I say just above a whisper, glaring at them and they both look at me seeing I am completely serious, but both are pushing with almost too much force. Any harder and I am going to fall backward.

Unfortunately Chris doesn't have that much of a hold over Paulo and he is around her in a second and in their faces. "You want to say that again you little piss ants."

"Paulo!" I say in a warning tone. While we're allowed to punish the cadets, we're not allowed to fight with them, especially out of anger.

He looks at me and then back at them. "We don't let them walk all over us. It is called respect for women you damn ignorant idiots. Maybe if you tried acting like a gentlemen, you could actually get some instead of trying to act like a bad ass hoping you look cool doing it." Great, he must have seen the video too. "Guess what, woman don't want some trouble making fool that can't even beat her in a fight."

Both the cadets look completely insulted. "Are you trying to tell me they could kick my ass? Because if that is it, then you are seriously mistaken!" Alex says and Paulo laughs, like outright laughs in their faces. "You really think you could beat either of these women in a fight?" Paulo questions him knowing damn well Chris and I can fight with the best of them but both Skyler and Alex look at him like it is a stupid question. "Shit, you idiots are even more stupid than I thought. Either one of them could put you on your ass in less then thirty seconds." They both laugh.

"Seriously. Dani, you want to show them I am not joking?" I feel Eric tense under my hand that is still holding him. Although both him and Jeff have stopped pushing against me, I'm still holding them for good measure. I release them and turn but keep myself in front of Eric. I know he doesn't want me to fight and if by some miracle I got hurt, I wouldn't be able to stop him from retaliating. "You know what? It wouldn't be fair if I did it, why don't you let Chris do it this time." Eric lets our a deep breath. That was definitely the right choice. Although I would love the opportunity to hit Skyler square in the face. I pick up my gloves from when I dropped them and toss them to Chris. She looks excited.

Jeff takes off his and throws them at Alex. "Go ahead mouth. Going to back down to a girl. What's the matter, you afraid?" Jeff eggs him on and that is enough to get him hooked. "I ain't afraid of a girl asshole."

"Well then, get in the ring." Alex hesitates for a moment but Skyler nudges him and he gives in walking over to the ring as we follow. Paulo whispers something to Chris before she steps into the ring. She looks completely stoked. I really hope we are still within the rules here. We fight in the ring sometimes but normally instructors only fight with the cadets and only when they are in class.

Alex start circling around the ring bouncing up and down. The look on his face is of total contentment. He has no idea what is about to happen. "Alright, fight." Eric shouts and I know he is going to enjoy this just as much as we are. Alex is easily twice Chris's size but he doesn't know that we do this all the time. I have practiced with her several times and she is wicked quick.

He keeps bouncing around, just outside of her reach. "Come on little lady... don't be scared... I won't hurt you... much." He continues bouncing around.

"Stop playing and fight!" Eric says as if he is board. Alex looks at him for a second and then bounces in and tries to hit her in the face. She quickly ducks and hits him in the side but not too hard. "That's one point for the little mouse." Paulo says with a smile and it clearly pisses off Alex. He recovers quickly and starts bouncing again but now he looks determined.

After he circled her a few more times, he moved in and took a hard swing and my breath hitches, but Chris being the incredible person she is, moved to the side and puts all her weight into her swing that connects perfectly with his jaw and he immediately goes down. I let out my breath and while he isn't knocked out, he is completely dazed. Chris moves back to the other side of the ring where we are standing.

When he gets his bearings back he jumps up and begins to charge her but Eric is over the ropes and between them in a second. He grabs Alex by his shirt effectively stopping him. "If I were you, I would stop before you are completely embarrassed." Alex stops struggling but Eric doesn't release him, but does look over to Skyler. "And how about you? You want to go a quick round with Dani because if she can put me and Paulo on our asses, I am sure she would have no problem with you. Especially after you pissed her off in class." Skyler quickly shakes his head.

"Well then, I suggest you two learn how to show the woman around here a little respect or I will make sure next time you guys fight them in the presents of everyone else so they can see how pathetic you both are." He growls at both of them. He pushes Alex back and he stumbles back but doesn't fall. "Now get your asses back to the dorms!" He shouts.

The both move quickly leaving the gym. "Good job little mouse." Paulo says giving Chris a pat on the shoulder and I give her a hug. "Great job girl!" I tell her.

"Thanks, and Paulo, don't call me that." She says pushing at him. "Nice right hook." Eric tells her as Jeff hugs her and gives her a pat on the back. "I think this is cause for celebration. I have some special Dauntless cake."

"Sounds good to me." Paulo says and we all laugh as we head to the mess haul.

* * *

 **So what did you think? I really hope you all liked it. It was one of those chapter that was really fun to write. Please let me know what you thought, I always love to read your reviews and comments. If you are a guest reviewer, if you leave a nickname or initals I can give you guys shout outs too! To one my guest reviewer, that shower scene was for you! Love all you guys. Until next time!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey Everyone. Good news and some better news. The good news is that I finally finished this chapter. The better news is I start my new job tomorrow and I will go back to working 40 hours a week with weekends off instead of working almost 60 hour weeks and split days off. What does that mean? It means I will be able to punch out these chapters a little quicker. I am truly sorry it has been another two weeks but I promise to try harder to get back to one a week.**

 **I wanted to thank all of my reviewers. You guys are all so great and I love reading every one of them. I saw some new reviewers in there and I just wanted to give my thanks to all of you. This story continues to grow in popularity and I couldn't have gotten this far without all of you so Thank All Of YOU! Here is another chapter for you. Enjoy!**

This story is rated M/MA for Lemons, language and situations. Not appropriate for younger readers!

Disclaimer: All divergent characters belong to Veronica Roth, all original characters are mine. V.R. characters look like those in the movie. Hope you all enjoy, reviews and thoughts are welcome.

* * *

 **Chapter 20**

 _(Sunday, December 6th)_

 _"Whoo hoo"_ All the guy hoot and holler as Baldwin catches a pass for a Seahawks touchdown. So far Seattle has dominated this game as the field goal is good pushing the score to twenty-one to zero against the Minnesota Vikings. Will was able to hook up Eric's tablet that was streaming the game, up to the projector and we are now watching the game on the wall of the instructors dorm. Our first choice was my cabin but too many people wanted to watch it. Since we really haven't been able to have many poker nights, it is kind of nice to just hang out with everyone.

Eric is staring down at my tablet, with one earbud in, pretending to be working instead of watching the game but I see the smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. He has already told me he was a Seahawks fan. I mean come on, we are streaming it on _his_ tablet. He wants to be watching this just as much as the other guys but he wants to pretend he is being responsible since the cadets are right in the other room. It has been raining pretty hard today so no one is outside. A few cadets were in the gym earlier but Eric has informed me everyone is back in the dorms which is how we all prefer it anyway.

Poor Chris and Marlene though. They are the only ones that can't be here right now because Chris is cooking and Marlene has to stay in the infirmary on Sundays. No one is going to be happy when we have to turn off the game and go to lunch.

The half ends and everyone starts talking all at once. "Hey Dani, think fast!" Jeff says loudly from the other side of the room and I look up just in time to see a football flying right at my chest. Somehow, Eric manages to reach his arm in front of me and catches the ball with one hand pulling it back into his chest.

"Jeff, what the hell? If that would have hit me in the chest, I would have kicked your ass."

Jeff laughs at me. "You could try." He challenges. "Boy you know I would have no problem laying your ass out."

"And if you didn't I sure would." Eric says quietly beside me as he sends death glares at Jeff.

"The only reason you would win is because I would never hit you. So lets just say you would have an unfair advantage." I roll my eyes because he is probably right. Jeff is one of those quiet guys that you have to be careful of. He could probably keep up with the best of them.

Eric puts the ball down behind us on the bed staring intently at the tablet again. Jeff is probably lucky because if that ball did hit me, I could just imagine Eric retaliating.

Zeke laughs and tackles Jeff back onto the bed giving him a nuggie. "Zeke you fucking ass, get off me."

"Don't worry Dani, I will take care of your light work." Zeke says laughing over Jeffs shouts to get up. We all start laughing at them but I stop immediately as I feel Eric tense beside me.

"Fuck...Paulo!" Eric says loudly jumping up off his bed and heading quickly for the other dorms before I can even look at him. I immediately follow as does Jeff who pushes Zeke off him quickly causing him to land hard on the floor. As soon as we hit the bathroom, I hear loud noises coming from one of the dorms. Eric goes into dorm A which houses his and Paulo's cadets. As I enter, I pause for the slightest moment when I see Asa land a punch to Alex face and Skyler who is behind Alex immediately jumps at Asa.

I quickly move into action as Eric grabs Skyler before he reaches Asa and Jeff grabs Asa. Asa is a shorter but still taller than me and would have probably been more ideal for me to get him but Jeff was closer. I grab Alex who is much taller by the back of his shirt before he can retaliate and pull so hard he falls back onto his ass. He immediately goes to get back up but I only pull his shirt again making him go back down and then move in front of him. "Get up and I swear I will make what he just did to you look like child's play." I say as sternly as possible. I see him debate it internally but he stays down.

"That's enough!" Eric bellows as Skyler continues to struggle and he finally gets the point becoming still in Eric's clutches. The room falls silent and Eric looks around.

"Everyone to the gym now!" He shouts. Everyone seems a little stunned, but they snap out of it when Eric shoves Skyler toward the door. I pull Alex up and do the same, making sure I stay behind him.

"Zeke, get the other cadets and tell Max to meet us in the gym." Eric says without turning around. I turn seeing Zeke in the bathroom doorway. I still don't know how he seems to know where everyone is without even looking. We go out in the rain heading for the gym. Our group get larger as everyone else in the camp joins us.

By the time we file into the gym Max, Harrison and even Christian come through the doors. Eric has lead everyone over to the boxing ring and everyone has created sort of a semi circle around him. He steps up onto the side of the ring and faces everyone. I discreetly move to the edge of the circle not feeling comfortable with so many people so close to me and Max and Harrison join me at the edge.

"What is this all about?" Max whispers to me but I am at a loss. I have no idea and I just shrug my shoulders at him, but I am sure it won't take long to find out.

"Skyler in the ring!" Eric says. Skyler gives him a bit of a worried look but complies. Eric watches him get in the center of the ring and once he's there he turns back to the group.

"Four, Zeke, Paulo." All three move immediately giving me the impression that this is yet another tactic that has been used before. The four of them create a square around Skyler whose face has turned worried.

"Lets go Skyler. You wanted to fight then lets fight." Eric says completely serious.

"You want me to fight all four of you?" He says as his face morphs into fear.

"What's the matter? You don't like it when you are on the other side of it?" Skyler just stares at him. "We have told you. We watch everything you guys do. You want to bully and manipulate others then I will show you what it is like to be on the receiving side of it." All at once the four instructors begin to move in on him. "It wasn't like that I swear." Skyler says quickly as his eyes bulge out his eyes.

"I suggest you start speaking the truth." Paulo says as he grabs Skyler's shirt from behind yanking him back on his ass. Zeke quickly picks him up from the front of his shirt standing him up and then pushing him into Four who pushes him back in the center of the circle they have formed around him.

"Come on Skyler. You like to talk a lot of shit, so show everyone how much of a bad ass you really are." Eric shouts in his face. "I am not stupid enough to fight all four of you?" Skyler growls back at him.

"Maybe not stupid but you are a coward. Only a coward bullies people around." He spits at him.

"You mean like you guys are doing to me right now. Let me bring a few others in this ring and I will gladly fight you."

"You mean you are too scared to do it by yourself? You have to let other fight for you?" Eric's words are calculated and even I know he is doing it on purpose. Skyler looks around debating the situation. "Let me make this easy for you." Eric says nodding to the other guys and they exit the ring leaving just them. Eric removes his shirt to reveal his perfectly sculpted upper body and Paulo throws a pair of gloves at him and a pair at Skyler who barely catches them.

"The difference between me and you Skyler is I believe in a fair fight. I don't pit people against each other and try to jump in at my convenience. I don't gang up on people creating an unfair advantage and I sure in the hell don't pick on those smaller than me." He growls at him as he finishes putting on his gloves.

I am starting to get a little nervous and I look to Max but he seems just fine with what is happening. "Come on, I don't have all day." Eric says sounding irritated. Skyler looks him up and down understanding that he is going to have to fight Eric. "I'm not fighting you." He says trying to stand up straighter but his confidence is clearly shaken.

"Why not? Are you that much of a coward you won't fight me one on one?" Eric huffs, his tactics are clearly working as Skyler begins to get angry. "I said I am not a coward!" He shouts.

"Then come on fight me. Show everyone you are not the pathetic, little boy who is afraid of a fair fight..." As Eric gets the last word out Skyler punches him across the face with bare hands but Eric isn't fazed like he knew that would be his reaction. I take a step toward the ring but Max puts an arm out in front of me and shakes his head. I just hope Eric keeps his emotions under control. Skyler has been pushing him from the day he got here.

"Good, now put your gloves on and lets fight. I will even let you get the first punch." But Skyler doesn't put on his gloves, he lunges toward him hitting him in the face again and Eric shoves him hard causing him to fall back onto the ground. "The thing you fail to realize Skyler is I don't need a fair fight to win against a coward like you." Eric continues to antagonize him.

Skyler face is of pure hatred and anger as he jumps up and attempts to hit Eric but he moves to the side shoving him slightly to the side and Skyler goes right by him stumbling to the edge of the ring.

"Come on bad ass, show me what you are made of." Skyler turns around charging him once more and this time Eric steps aside and sticks his foot out effectively tripping him and he hits the ground hard, but again he is quickly on his feet.

"This isn't fair!" He shouts frustrated that he can't hit Eric again. "What's not fair Skyler?" Eric ask calmly.

"Your bigger, you have an unfair advantage." Eric lets out a chuckle. "Well that is the first thing you need to learn today, and that goes for the rest of you." He says looking at the rest of the cadets. "There is always going to be someone bigger and badder then you and if you continue to bully people around, that person is going to find you." He looks back to Skyler. "But if you think this is unfair than lets make it more fair. Dani!"

He turns slightly and his eyes meet mine. I am momentarily surprised but I hide it and step forward toward the ring. It isn't like Eric to put me into a situation where I could potentially get hurt, but I know he wouldn't do it if he didn't think I could win.

"Wait, you want me to fight _her_?" He says sounding a little panicked. "Yes! You wanted something more fair. Well she is smaller than you and she is a girl so what is your complaint now?" When he says nothing Eric continues as he hands me his gloves and I began putting them on. "Good, now put your gloves on because you hit her with your bare fist, I will show you how unfair this fight can be."

After a moment of hesitation, Skyler picks up the gloves off the floor that he had previously abandoned, and begins to put them on. I take off my jacket and put my hair up into a pony tail with the hair tie I have on my wrist. "Don't let him hit you." Eric whispers to me before giving me an encouranging nod. I purse my lips. "Thanks for the advise." A smile tugs slightly at his lips and he exits the ring and goes to stand next to Max, Harrison and Christian who all have amused looks on their faces. Apparently, they all have faith in me as well. Max gives me a nod and a slight smile.

"This will be a fair boxing match." Max voice booms from the edge of the crowd. "No pulling hair, no hits between the legs and when I say stop, you stop!" We both nod toward Max. "Good, First one to go down loses, now fight."

We turn toward each other and start circling. I bring my hands up and he mirrors mine. I am slightly curious if his hesitation a few minutes ago was because of him watching Chris's fight the other day or if he really didn't want to fight a girl. Either way, I understand the point Eric is trying to make so it is important for me to win this and win it quickly. _I can do this!_

I move in to hit him, but he moves and I quickly back step. He is a cocky little bastard and I know that was all it would take to get his confidence up. He smiles a little and comes at me. His fist flies for my face but I am able to duck under it and spin away from him. He tries again and I easily dodge him spinning away from him once again. He is starting to look a little irritated.

"Stop playing and fight!" Eric shouts but I am pretty sure he meant that for me. He obviously doesn't completely feel comfortable with me in the ring and wants me to end it. He is right, the longer I am in here, the more likely he is to connect a punch. He sends another punch at my side and barely misses me. His lack of ability to connect a punch seems to be irritating him just like with Eric.

I let out a a quiet chuckle to tease him. In anger he tries to punch me but this time I lean back and once his fist past my face I swing my arm around and connect my fist perfectly with his temple and he goes down to the mat onto his hands and knees.

"Enough!" Max says and I look to see a smile on the face of all the staff members with the exception of Eric who is already stepping back into the ring. He gives me a pat on the shoulder and then reaches down and pulls Skyler back to his feet by his arms, but not in an angry, or malicious way. Skyler seems a little dazed but you can tell he is realizing that a girl just beat him. He shakes Eric's hands off his arms making him a little unsteady and Eric keeps his hands out slightly in case he falls.

Once he is sure Skyler will stay on his feet he turns to the cadets instead of directly speaking to Skyler. "The second lesson you will learn today is that size doesn't matter. Don't assume, just because you are bigger that you have the advantage." He nods at me and then continues.

"Fighting is not about size. It is about physical and mental skill. It doesn't matter if you are big, small, quiet or loud. It is about knowing your skill and knowing how to out think your opponent. The one thing I hope each one of you take away from this lesson today is that there is always someone better, someone bigger, someone stronger. Therefore, give yourself the advantage and not put yourself in the situation at all. You can't lose a fight that never starts!"

I see all the cadets nod. "With that being said, in this camp we fight fair. If you want to fight it out, it is to be done in this ring and it is to be a one on one fight. The next person to start a fight in my camp outside of this ring will be running laps until you can no long walk. Do you all understand?" I hear a chorus of 'yes sir' come from the cadets and he turns to Skyler. "Do you understand?"

"Yes sir." He says in obvious defeat, his eyes never leaving the floor. "Good now tap gloves. What happens in the ring, stays in the ring. You don't harbor any grudges when you leave this ring. We learn lessons here, not defeat." I step forward and put my fist out. He looks at me for a minute before he hits my glove with his own. "Good fight Sky." I tell him trying to be a good sport. He nods again but doesn't say anything.

"Alright, everyone back to the dorms. Lunch is in fifteen minutes." Max shouts over the chatter that had started up and everyone disperses leaving the gym. Eric gives me another pat on the shoulder and goes over to Max.

I look to Skyler and he is still looking at the ground obviously upset. He let his emotions get in the way and they just ended up embarrassing him. Funny that I know exactly how he feels. I go up to him but he doesn't acknowledge me.

"You know you shouldn't let your emotions control your actions." I tell him in a soft voice. I don't want him to feel intimidated. He huffs but doesn't look up. "I don't think you have much room to talk." I am not sure how much he knows about me but I am sure there are rumors around.

"Your right." I say and he finally looks at me. "You know we aren't too different when it comes to that." I admit. "But it is also something I have been working on since I was a cadet here and I have learned a lot since then." He gives me a look of disbelief. "Yeah, like what?"

"Well for starters I have learned breath through my emotions before I act on them. It would do you a lot of good to learn the same. Most of your problem was you acted out of anger instead of thinking your moves through. Just remember Eric may come off as an asshole but everything he does has a reason to it." His eyes get big like he can't believe I just said that about Eric. "Yes, even I can admit, he is an ass sometimes." Skyler chuckles a little.

"That's better. Just think about what he said alright. You can learn a lot if you are just willing to listen." He gives me a tight smile and nods before he walks away. I watch him until he is out the door and then go over to the small group still here that is made up of Max, Harrison, Christian, Jeff and Eric. All of there attention immediately is transfered to me as soon as I reach them.

"Nice right hook." Harrison tells me with a smile and Jeff nudges my should in apparent agreement. I have to admit it feels good to see so many people have confidence in me.

"Is everything ok?" Max ask looking at me and then looks back at the door Skyler walked through explaining the reference of his question.

"Yep, just wanted to make sure the lesson sunk in and give him a little something extra to think about." I tell him confident that my words to Skyler would sink in and maybe I was able to help him in one way or another.

Christian smiles. "Another successful convert Max. The trainee as become the trainer."

* * *

"So how have things been?" Christian ask me as I sit down with him. I shrug my shoulders. "They have been ok."

"Word is, you are avoiding me." He jokes with me. "You know if you didn't want to do your session you just had to say so. You didn't need to throw yourself down a ravine." His laugh is the only thing that tells me he isn't serious.

"Ha ha ha. Yes, that is exactly what I did." He laughs for another second before getting a little more serious. "No, in all seriousness. How are you adjusting to things here? I haven't been able to talk to you for several weeks and I would like to know how you are doing with all of this."

"I suppose things are getting better. It was kind of difficult at first. Things have changed so many time and so much in the last year that it is kind of surreal each time I go through another change."

"That is understandable. First you came here as a cadet, then you meet the man of your dreams, then you leave everything you know behind to start a whole new life." I can't help but smile at meeting 'the man of my dreams' comment.

"Not to mention the million of other things that have happened to me in between." I say as a errant thought. "Well you seem to be adjusting really well to life here. If I didn't know better, I would say you have been here for years. You handled yourself earlier very well. Even being put into a position, I could tell you weren't entirely comfortable with." I raise my eyebrow at him because I really had tried to not let that show.

"Don't worry, I doubt anyone else noticed. It is my job to pay attention to the small details. For instance, you removed yourself from the center of the crowd to stand on the edge which I am guessing was to avoid physical contact. Then when Eric called you out, you hesitated for the slightest of moments like you were questioning the situation but then you immediately corrected yourself showing trust in Eric. I have to say that was probably the first time I have seen you act in good faith of another commands. That says a lot about how far you have come. You should feel good about that."

I really don't know what to say about that so I stay quiet, looking down at my lap. "If we could for a minute talk about last week."

"Okay." I say finally looking up at him happy to move on from his praising. "What about it?" I ask not sure if I actually want to talk about this either but if I have to talk about it with someone, it might as well be him.

"I was curious to why you felt the need to run. Were you mad, frustrated, upset?"

"Honestly, all three."

"How so?" Great, here we go. "Well I was mad at Harrison for insinuating I was a slut, I was frustrated with Eric's need to always prove I am his and upset with the fact that we can't be open here which would have allowed us to avoid the situation all together." I get out in a rush.

"I have to say you do have a valid point on all three counts, but in life we have to find ways to work around things when they don't go the way we want them to. I admit, I am also proud of you for choosing to take a run instead of confronting those issues while your still upset. So what happened on your run?"

"Again to be honest I don't know, one minute I was running and then I was tumbling down the hill. After that there was nothing. I don't remember slipping or tripping or anything but it is all kind of spotty."

"What do you mean by spotty?"

"Well it is like my memories are in sections. I really don't remember the whole run just pieces of it. Marlene says that can happen sometimes when you hit your head hard, that it can affect your memory, especially what happened right before the incident."

"That is correct, but people have been known to gain back those memories too." I shrug my shoulders. "I am not too worried about it. I am prone to bad shit happening. More than likely my dumb ass slipped or tripped and I fell. I mean, really it is the only explanation so I am not too worried about it." He nods in agreement, but a curious look crosses his face.

"Something tells me that was a very loaded comment. Are you worried about something else?" _Should I tell him?_ I can see he notices my internal struggle. "You know, what ever you tell me is confidential and I am not here to judge anyone. Just to help you understand your own situation and if possible, improve it."

"I know." I take a deep breath. "It's just..." I pause and he stays quiet giving me a minute to put my thoughts into order. "I just wonder how long before Eric gets tired of my endless streak of bad luck." I say quietly looking down in shame. "I have had to learn to live with it, but he doesn't have to. He can walk away whenever he has had enough." I hold my breath and close my eyes.

"Do you really think Eric is going to leave you?" He questions with complete disbelief. I look back into his eyes and release the breath I was holding.

"One day, yes. Yes I do." I say sadly.

* * *

 **Ok, I have to admit, I wrote this chapter because I wanted to show Dani be a bad ass yet again. But it really turned out to be so much more. Dani to showed the cadets what she could do and it shows her becoming more comfortable in her position at the camp. It also proved to Max that she could do it. I originally planned to write this a little different but I liked the way it turned out. I really hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. Things are about to get more hectic so prepare yourselves.**

 **As always, I love to hear what you thought so please comment and review. They are always greatly appreciated. Until next time!**

 *****As a side note, I am sad that The Seahawks season is over, but they will be back :-) #SB51 *****


	21. Chapter 21

**Hello Everyone. I got another chapter for you guys. It is a few days later than I intended but what can I say, I had to do my taxes. Stupid priorities! Anyway, I got it done and here it is! I loved all the reviews I have been getting and I want to say thank you all so much for your continued support. You are all so awesome. sunflowercreak, you put a huge smile on my face and I wanted to say thank you since I can't PM you! Also to my guest reviewers. I love your guys reviews and appreciate them so much! For those who have reviewed, if I haven't responded yet, I will be doing so soon. Well on to the chapter. Enjoy!**

This story is rated M/MA for Lemons, language and situations. Not appropriate for younger readers!

Disclaimer: All divergent characters belong to Veronica Roth, all original characters are mine. V.R. characters look like those in the movie. Hope you all enjoy, reviews and thoughts are welcome.

* * *

 **Chapter 21**

 _(Thursday, December 10th)_

"You know I really could have driven myself." I tell Harrison as I get in the car.

I felt bad that Harrison has been sitting here waiting for me for over three hours while I took back-to-back CLEP test. I have been studying all week for them in addition to trying to study for finals that start next week. Thankfully three of my finals are papers instead of actual test but that still leaves three test that I still have to study for. I'm glad these two test I took weren't too hard, but it still has been an overwhelming week.

Max insisted Harrison drive me to Ellensberg since neither him or Eric could come. Eric had classes and Max had a business lunch with investors in town. Harrison pulls out of the parking lot and heads for our next destination.

"It's okay, I don't mind. Besides, he didn't want you going to the lawyers office by yourself. They are just trying to keep you safe." He says.

"I can take care of myself!" I really do appreciate them wanting to look out for me, but it often is at the expense of making me feel like a errant child. He gives me a irritated look and I realize how bad that came out. "I mean, I know they have my well being at heart, but I don't care for all the attention." I quickly add on.

He shrugs his shoulders. "I didn't have anything else to do anyway. Besides, while you were in doing your test I decided to the Fred Meyers and picked up a few things I have been needing to get so it worked out nicely." He gives me his charming smile and I feel a little better about having an escort on my trip today.

"I will bet $20 that your list included some alcohol." I say a little smugly since it does irritate me that I am not old enough to buy it yet. I don't need to complain though because I have Eric.

He laughs at me. "Not my idea. The guys found out I was coming and I was drafted to restock for a few of them."

"Figures." I can't say I am not interested to know if Eric is included in that. We have decided to play poker tonight before I go into full-on study mode for the weekend.

We pull into the parking lot of the prosecuting attorney's office where I am suppose to be meeting my lawyer Mr. Walker. I didn't want to come, but he call Max yesterday and requested I come in to the office in person to discuss the case. The jury selection is suppose to start Monday which also is terrible timing but the court doesn't make it's schedule around me. I was really hoping she would just settle out of court and I wouldn' t have to deal with this shit anymore. She continues to be a stubborn, pain in the ass.

Harrison gets out of the car with me. "You don't have to come in with me." I tell him. "It's cold out here. I rather go inside where it is warmer." I roll my eyes because he can stay warm just as easy by keeping the heater in the car on, but I am sure Max probably gave him orders. I decide to go easy on him since it really isn't his fault he got stuck following me around today.

I continue walking into the building and after we get directions from the woman at the front desk, we head to the elevator . I press the button and bounce on my toes as I begin getting a little anxious. "So was Eric mad he couldn't bring you today?" Harrison ask probably to easy the tension radiating off me. I can't help but smile. "He was actually really pissed but he'll get over it." Harrison laughs with me. The door to the elevator opens and I go still. _You have got to be kidding me!_

"Lynn!" I say in distaste. She stares at me for a second in obvious shock but quickly recovers and gets a arrogant smile on her face. _Stupid bitch!_ I step forward ready to hit her in the face.

I am stopped by Harrison who must have picked up on the situation and firmly grasp my wrist halting me before I could take more than a step forward. Lynn walks out of the elevator and stops just out of my reach. "Oh, moved on from Eric already have you?" She ask looking toward Harrison with lustful eyes. I go at her again but Harrison tightens his grip on my wrist. "You stupid bitch! He is not my boyfriend but you are lucky he is here or I would kick your ass." She huffs in disbelief.

I lower my voice trying to calm down. It won't help my case any if we get into a fight right now. "I swear to God Lynn you better fucking leave right now before I put you in the hospital."

"Oh, you mean like last time." She tilts her head mocking me with her smile. "The only reason you got me last time was because you pulled a bitch move and blind sided me. Something that will never happen again!" I say almost shouting.

"Dani, you need to calm down." He whispers loudly into my ear and I am suddenly aware that he is still holding my wrist. "Harrison, you need to remove you hand from my wrist, now!" I hiss back because I really don't want to hurt him and the way things are going that just might happen.

"Yeah, Dani. You should really listen to your boyfriend." She scolds mockingly.

"You..." I begin but I am cut off when in an instant, Harrison moves in front of me so I can no longer see her. He keeps his hands out slightly like he is ready to catch me if I try to move around him. "If I'm not mistaken, Dani has a restraining order against you and by continuing to stand here you are violating that order. Should I inform security?" He says to her in a perfectly calm voice reminding me a little of Max. I don't hear her respond right away, but then she lets out a loud exaggerated sigh.

I hear her start walking away. "Mark my words. He will get tired of you sooner or later." I hear her chuckle out. "Fuck off Bitch." I volley back. Although in the back of my mind, I know she is right. I let out a loud sigh of my own and Harrison turns around to face me.

"You okay?" He ask looking concerned. "I'm fine." I say as I step to the side and push the elevator button again now that it has closed. "So that was her huh?" He ask after a second and the elevator dings just as the door opens. "Yes that was her." I say and walk into the elevator. He follows keeping his head down.

"She seems like a bit of a bitch." I let out a snort. "You can say that again!"

We reach the office and I go up to the reception desk. "Good afternoon." The receptionist greets us. "I am here to see Mr. Leeks and Mr. Walker." She gives me a sweet smile. "Your name?"

"Danielle."

"Yes, they are expecting you. You're a little early, but I will let them know you are here. Please, take a seat." I give her a small smile despite my mood. "Thank you."

Harrison follows me over to the group of chairs and we sit down. He kind of looks like he wants to ask me something but he just sits there looking down, while chewing on his lip. I wonder what is bothering him.

It only takes a few minutes for Mr. Walker to come out and greet me. Although I am not sure I like the look on his face right now. He looks almost irritated and my guess can only be that Lynn was leaving this office. "Dani, good to see you again. Thank you so much for coming down." He says shaking my hand and putting on a forced smile. "Hello. It was no problem at all." Well it was, but I am trying to be polite. "I wasn't expecting you for another thirty minutes."

"I finished up my previous appointment a little early so we just came right over. Although I now wished I would have waited a few more minutes but I am here so..." I trail off not sure what else to say. "I take it you ran into Lynn." I shake my head slightly. "I was afraid of that and my apologies, I was hoping to keep you two apart. There wasn't no trouble was there?"

"No, just a little talking." Lucky enough for her, Harrison kept me from doing anything stupid. "Good. Well lets go into Mr. Leeks Office and we can discuss this further."

I turn to Harrison. "I will be back." I am not sure why I told him that but I didn't want to just leave him hanging. "I will just be waiting here." He chuckles and picks up a magazine from the table next to him. Whatever he was thinking about has clearly passed out of his thoughts. I nod and follow Mr. Walker down the hall.

We stop at a large heavy door at the end of the hall and like a gentlemen, he opens it for me. Inside is a large room with a desk, a whole wall of what are probably law books and a large round meeting table which Mr. Walker leads me over to.

"Good Afternoon Dani." Mr. Leeks greets me and comes over to join us at the table. "Thank you for coming in today." I nod my head. Enough with the pleasantries already!

Mr. Leeks is the first to speak once we are settled. "So Dani, I had two purposes for wanting you to come in today. The first is to explain to you what has been happening the last few weeks. As I understand it, you talked to Max in Mid-November regarding the plea deal."

"Yes. We spoke about that."

"Well we have been going back and forth with Lynn and her lawyer. Like with any negotiation, we put the most harsh sentence on the table first to see if she would take it. As you can probably imagine she didn't take it and her lawyer gave some terms of their own for us to consider. Lets just say those terms would never be accepted. So our next step was to give her and her lawyer some information about the case we have managed to build against her and offer her another deal."

I take a deep breath taking in what he is saying. "So you mean what evidence you have against her?"

"That is correct. Lynn's position is self-defense so we are not trying to prove she stabbed you, that evidence is clear and established. We are trying to prove why she stabbed you."

"And do you think you have enough to prove she did it on purpose?"

"Yes! That is part of the reason for trying to plea this instead of going to trial. We have managed to get enough evidence to convince almost any jury. Trials are time consuming and expensive. Something she needs to consider too. It becomes the best interest of both parties to plea. I don't wish for this to sound insensitive, but by pleading, she receives a lesser sentence and we save time, money and usually the emotional trauma of the victims that trials can cause."

I suppose that makes sense, but I can't help be curious about things. "So can I ask what evidence you have against her?" They both look at each other. "Are you sure you want to hear it?" Mr. Walker ask and I am sure he is trying to tell me I probably won't like what he is going to say but it only peaks my curiosity more. "Yes, I am sure." I say confidently.

Mr. Walker takes over to explain. "Okay. Well to start we have talked in detail with Eric regarding his previous relationship with her. The details of his interview were backed up by the interviews we did with several of his friends who were all able to corroborate his story." Yeah, not details I care to know.

"We also have camera footage from the camp showing their interactions together a several occasions which also backs up his story. Were you aware there are camera's in the buildings?" He ask showing his curiosity.

"Yes, but I was told the classroom cameras are off during Sundays because of the counseling sessions to make sure they stay confidential." He gives me a look that I just know is going to dispute what I just said.

"That is partially correct." _WHAT?_ "The camera's are on all the time with the exception of when the counseling sessions are scheduled." I look at him confused. _This matters how?_ "Which means that things that go on in between sessions is actually on camera." He gives me a second and that is all it takes for me to realize what he is trying to tell me. "So..." I say as my eyes widen in shock.

"Yes. Her meetings with Eric, your and Eric's little get together, it was all on the recordings." _Holy shit!_ "But Eric said..."

"He didn't know. Those recordings are accessed only by the administrator which is Max. Eric would have no idea they exist and just so you know, Max told us he doesn't normally check them unless there is a good reason too, but that isn't what matters. What really matters is the fact that is backs up both of your stories."

I can't fucking believe it. The damn camera's caught us that day we snuck into the classroom. I suppose it also must have showed her watching us as well and her leaving pissed off. It would have also caught Eric telling her off right before that. I am not sure if I should be happy or pissed off about this news.

"What that proves is motive. We also were trying to prove premeditation. Something we believe we found more evidence on last week from a lead we had been following." He pauses and looks at Mr. Leeks again. "And?" I prompt.

"We were able to obtain proof that Lynn bought a knife a week before you were attacked." _Oh Shit!_ "While we don't have direct proof that she bought it with the intention of hurting you, with the other information it is weighed more heavily then pure coincidence." She was planning this. She planned it all along.

"If that isn't enough for premeditation, we also have our initial findings. When we interviewed Tris, she was adamant that the letter opener you were stabbed with was in the desk drawer. When the police processed the scene, they only found the a tipped over pen basket on the desk. None of the drawers were open. Since you said you were stabbed standing near the couch, she would have had to have it the whole time since the desk is not near the couches. It also made her story that she grabbed it as you were attacking her less believable. Together it is a pretty strong implication of premeditation."

I don't even know what to say to that. I feel sick to my stomach right now. I really wish Eric was here with me or even Jeff, just someone to comfort me right now, but their not. All I can do is work on trying to breath and keep calm.

Mr. Leeks cuts in. "Getting back to our original conversation, Lynn was here a little while ago because we offered her a final plea deal. If she accepts, she will be pleading guilty to aggravated assault and will serve the maximum sentence of ten years. She will be eligible to get out for good behavior after eight. Basically we took off the deadly weapons charge but we weren't willing to offer her the minimum sentence. With all the evidence against her, we think she will take it despite the offer being the max sentence for the charge. She has until tomorrow afternoon at four to accept or we will continue on to trial."

He gets quiet. I really hope she takes this deal. I would be estactic if I never have to to see that conniving bitch again. "That brings us to the second reason why we wanted you to stop by." Mr. Walker says. "If she doesn't take this deal, we will have one week to prepare you for the trial. It is likely to bring in press since this is such a small town and the nature of crime is unusual, especially with your special situation at the camp. They are likely to bring up safety situations. I urge you to not speak to anyone in the media and refer them to one of us if you are contacted. Okay?"

I just nod my head and it is swimming with all this information. It is probably a good thing I already did my test. At least I will have a relaxing night tonight to try to deal with all the emotions running through my head.

"We really don't want to go to into depth with the details because we are pretty confident that she will take this deal, but we just wanted to give you a heads up, just in case." Mr. Walker says softly. I suppose my face isn't as composed as I thought. "I appreciate the update. Can you let me know as soon as you know tomorrow?" I ask quietly. "Of Course. That is my job."

* * *

"Your being awfully quiet. Are you sure your okay? What did the lawyers say?" Eric ask me quietly so that the cadets can't hear him as we sit and eat dinner. This is the first time I have seen him other than the quick minute I spent with him earlier when I got back. Max brought me into the office to provide a debriefing of today. Something Eric wasn't invited too.

Our lack of alone time is probably for the best anyway. If we end up alone, I am likely to break down. I have been trying my best to just keep it together, at least until tonight.

"I'm fine." I tell him, but he gives me a dirty look. "Harrison said you haven't really talked since you left the lawyers office." I look across the table to Harrison as he shrugs his shoulders and gives me an apologetic smile.

"So what now? You and Harrison B.F.F's? I said I'm fine." I spit at him and his eyebrows pull together. "Funny. You don't have to be so fucking grumpy. I am just concerned." He looks back down at his food, stabbing at his salad much more violent then necessary.

"I just don't want to talk about it right now." I try placating him, but it doesn't help much. "Whatever." _Urg, why does he have to be so frustrating?_ Now he is probably going to be pissy for the rest of the night. _Great!_

I have lost what little of an appetite I had so I stand up to leave. "Where are you going?" Jeff ask and Eric gives me a questioning look. "I have somewhere I need to be. I will see you guys later." Eric figures it out pretty quick and goes back to his food while Harrison and Jeff watch me with confusion as I empty my tray and leave.

Jeff should already know better. I head for the gym to work off my irritation, frustration, anger, what ever this is built up inside me. It's the only place I really want to be right now other than in Eric's arms, but with the way he is acting right now, I am not sure I want that either. When I get inside, I put on a pair of gloves and go straight for the punching bag.

I put in my ear buds and put my IPod on shuffle. Linkin Park comes on and I start punching away. This day has just been an emotionally draining day. Sometimes I wonder if my life will ever just be normal. A life where I don't have to worry about anything other than my job and my boyfriend. No pain, no irritation, no drama, and most of all no fear. I am so tired of it all. I punch the bag harder hoping I will just wear myself out to the point that I am numb to everything else around me. Tonight I want to forget about everything else and have a nice relaxing night with Eric and our friends. Although, I am sure he is still a little pissed at my attitude.

Another thing that I fucked up I suppose. Hopefully he will forgive me but it occurs to me for the hundredth time that I am pushing him away again. I don't mean to do it, I am just not use to having someone to lean on. All my life I have had to deal with shit almost all on my own. It is hard for me to let people in and as much as I love Eric, I forget sometimes that I can rely on him. _I messed up again, like always!_

I don't want to think about it anymore. I turn up my IPod to drowned out my thoughts, unfortunately I choose the wrong time to do that.

 _Time has had it's way with me._  
 _My broken tired hands cant build a thing._  
 _The wires that have held me still embedded now in flesh to find my will._  
 _The idle of my days is won, the empty I have fed has made me numb,_  
 _Despite what you will find in me._

 _The failures of my past just swirl beneath._

 _I need a heart that carries on through the pain_  
 _When the walls start collapsing again._  
 _Give me a soul that never ceases to follow,_  
 _Despite the infection within_

 _Our careless feet leaving trails_  
 _Neverminding the fragile dirt we all end in._  
 _Our careless feet leaving trails_  
 _Neverminding the fragile dirt we all end in._

My arms slow down as the words sink into me. Why is it these songs always seem to be talking about my feelings? _'I need a heart that carries on through the pain, when the walls start collapsing again'._ The words repeat again in my head. _I need him._ I need him and I pushed him away. _Why did I do that?_ I am such a fuck up.

I feel tears start to stream down my face as I realize what I did earlier. Eric was trying to be there for me and I walked away. I pushed him away making him believe I didn't want him around. _Is this how I am going to lose him, by pushing him away?_

I stop punching and lean my forehead against the bag and hold on to the sides trying to support my body that has suddenly become weak. I knew this was going to come. Only now I am here alone with no one. More tears stream down my face falling to the floor in front of me.

My silent tears turn into quiet sobs as I finally let completely go of everything I have been holding in. _How much can one person take?_ I feel like my mind, my heart and my soul are tearing themselves into pieces. I thought the things in my past were bad enough but I am not sure it compares to everything I have gone through the last six months and my mind keeps going back to the meeting today.

 _She bought a knife._ She meant to hurt me, hurt me bad. Maybe even to kill me and I egged her on. I mocked her, invited her to hurt me and that is exactly what she did. I always understood that I could have died that day but I never really considered that was what she really wanted. Someone hated me so much that they wanted me dead. _Am I really that bad of a person?_ My chest tightens more as another round of sobs rip through me. I am a terrible person.

I feel strong arms wrap around me tightly. The person I want, the person I need, I don't even have to see him to know its him. He pulls out my ear buds. "Babe what's wrong?" The concern is weighted heavily in his words. I turn in his arms and cry into his chest. "Babe what happened? Please talk to me. Your freaking me out a little right now."

"I am a terrible person Eric." His arms tighten around me even more. "You are not a terrible person."

"I am! I hurt everyone around me. Even the ones I love. I push them away, everyone, even you." I can barely get my last words out. "Dani, stop. You don't push me away. You are just going through a lot right now. I understand that. It is why I gave you some space to come in here and get it out on your own."

"But I didn't want to be alone. I wanted you and I am so stubborn and stupid that I don't even realize what I really want until the damage is already done."

"Well I agree you are stubborn but you are far from stupid. You just aren't use to this yet. It is not in your nature to let others in. Of anyone, I am the one person who can completely understand that. It isn't always easy for me to let you in. It's just what we have become so accustom to, but we will get better at it. We just need some time."

I take a long deep breath to calm myself. He is just amazing sometimes. I swear he always knows what to say. My tears slow to a trickle. "Eric?"

"Yeah."

"I am afraid I am going to lose you." I whisper trying to let him into my thoughts a little. Something I am always afraid of doing but he is right, we just need to get use to it so I am trying to put some faith in him. He lets out a small chuckle. "Don't forget, I am stubborn too! You aren't getting rid of me that easy and to be honest, I don't know if there is anything you could do to make me want to leave you. Really you have nothing to be afraid of." _Not for now anyway._ I bite my lip and resolve to do everything in my power to keep him for as long as I can.

"Stubborn huh?" I say sarcastically with the hopes of lightening up the mood. I hate being the weak sobbing girlfriend. "Definitely?" He laughs loudly and I smack him lightly on the chest. "But I love you anyway." He adds. "I love you too." I can't help but smile at his playfulness. "Why don't you go get cleaned up and join me for P.T."

"Sounds good to me. Meet you out there." I tell him giving him a quick kiss. He pulls back looking me in the eyes. "You okay now?"

"Yes."

"You sure?" He still looks a little concerned. "Yes. Thank you for being there for me, even when I push you away." I try to be sarcastic but I don't feel that way in my heart. "My pleasure. Now I better go change my shirt that you have soaked with tears and nasty sweat." He jokes and I laugh giving him one more quick kiss and hug.

* * *

 **So, so, what did you think? Dani is having such a hard time keeping her emotions in check. Let me know what you guys think. All reviews and comments always welcome so please let me hear from you. I am working on trying to get back into a rhythm of posting weekly on Sunday or Monday but please be patient with me. Life is still a little hectic for me with my new job. You are all the best for supporting me and putting up with me. I love you all! Until next time.**

 **(Music Credit: Deteriorate - Demon Hunter)**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hey, Hey everyone. Another chapter ready for all of you. As always, thank you so much to all my reviewers and readers. I love all of you and so grateful for your continued support. The first book has past 36k views which has surpassed any expectations I have ever had and it continues to get new readers every week as does this sequel. Thank you guys so much for making it a success. To those who have been there since the beginning and those who recently found this, you have my deepest gratitude. Without further ado, here is the next one. Enjoy!**

This story is rated M/MA for Lemons, language and situations. Not appropriate for younger readers!

Disclaimer: All divergent characters belong to Veronica Roth, all original characters are mine. V.R. characters look like those in the movie. Hope you all enjoy, reviews and thoughts are welcome.

* * *

 **Chapter 22**

 _(Saturday, December 12th)_

 **ERIC POV**

 _Finally!_ "We're here." I shout out so everyone can hear and they begin to gather around me as the stragglers come into the small clearing. "Cadets, this is the 'Fire Tree'. It reminds us that there is always a force stronger than our own. Mother nature is one of the most powerful forces on earth and sometimes she shows us just how powerful she can be. This tree caught fire and burned from the inside out when it was hit by a single bolt of lightening."

I have to admit, there is something that draws me to this tree. It stands lonely in this clearing, black and charred. Ironically, cut off from the rest of the trees as if showing it is the black sheep.

"Rest up for a few minutes and then we will start our trek back down to camp."

"You mean we walked all the way up here just to see a pathetic tree?" _This damn kid._ Skyler always has something to say. "No, we came here to learn a lesson. Obviously you are too dense to understand what I just said, so let me make it simple. Mother nature is a bitch and if you piss her off, she will attack your dumb ass!" Everyone snickers at my remarks, trying to hide their laughter behind their hands.

The look of shock on his face gives me pure joy. The little shit deserves it. Normally these bad ass type guys learn after a few weeks to stop pushing boundaries but he is just thick headed. Nothing we have done has deterred him and he is starting to piss me off.

I have even been in a fairly good mood today. Yesterday, Dani got a call from her lawyer saying Lynn took the deal and that she was turning herself in on Monday. The great news was definitely in my favor. Last night Marlene gave us some time alone in the cabin and Dani's enthusiasm made for some mind blowing sex.

Dani is normally distracted quite easy when it comes to anything sexual but I have noticed she has been almost reserved lately. Like she just has too much on her mind, but last night, she was completely into it like she use to be and it was amazing to see her like that again.

I am pulled out of my thoughts as I notice Skyler standing by himself at the edge of the group. It isn't normal for him to be by himself so his actions are definitely a red flag. I keep an eye on him without looking up. I don't want him to know I am watching. That look of contemplation on his face tells me he is up to something. He turns away from me and looks down a small trail that leads parallel to the ridge we are on and away from camp. I hope he isn't stupid enough to try running again. The bracelet will stop him.

I keep watching. _What the hell is he doing?_ All the sudden he takes off. I take a deep breath and shake my head as I stand up. Four and I share a glance and his face emanates my thoughts. _Dumbass!_

We both look back toward him, his tracker should take him down anytime now. The seconds continue to tick by. He is far enough now that it should have injected him by now. "Fuck!" I say as I realize he has gotten too far.

"Stay with them!" I yell to Four, taking off after him. _Fucking little shit._ He is fast but I am faster. He had to know this was a useless attempt. I push my legs harder to close the distance between us. He had a pretty good head start and the ground is cold and slippery.

"Stop now or you are going to be even more sorry!" I tell him trying to get him to stop but instead it seems to give him a little boost and he speeds up. I let out a growl of irritation and push myself faster. I am in way better shape then him, he has no chance.

I feel my foot slip a little, but a few more feet and I finally catch him grabbing the back of his shirt and stopping as quick as I can, throwing him backwards onto the ground. "You little fucking shit. Did you really think you could out run me?" I ask not even out of breath.

"Fuck you dickhead." He tries to get up and I place my boot right over his chest pushing him back down. "Stay down!" I grab his wrist with a tracker, since he still has it on. I figured he would have figured out how to get it off. It's pretty rare for a cadet to figure out how to get the tracker off, but it does happen. One of the cadets, the one who kissed Dani, managed to get it off last last session by dislocating his thumb and pulling it off. Clearly this idiot wasn't smart enough to figure that out.

I inspect the bracelet. Maybe he isn't as much of an idiot as I thought. There is a penny wedge between his wrist and the bracelet right under the pin hole that the needle comes out of. I have no idea where he would have gotten a coin. We make sure to keep all change or anything small and medal out of the hands of the cadets for this very reason.

"Where did you get this?" I ask as I pull the penny out.

"Fuck you!" I roll my eyes and ask him again, but this time he doesn't answer me. He just looks at me pissed off.

"I will ask you one more time, where the hell did you get it?" I am losing my patience with him. "What are going to do, hit me? No, because you can't can you?" Well not technically but this ass is pushing my last nerve. "Didn't think so prick!"

"There are things worse then my fist kid. Which by the way, I still may use." I can't help but smile slightly at the idea that just popped in my head. He huffs, "Yeah, like what?" At his words I take off running. "What the hell are you doing?" He screams behind me but before he makes it on his feet, I hit the boundary distance and I hear him take a sharp breath as the needle pierces his wrist. I turn around to see his dumbfounded face. "You crazy bastard."

He staggers toward me but only makes it a few steps before he collapses. "Yes, yes I am!" I can't help but saying it out loud. I walk back to him and check his pulse. It is steady and strong.

 _Crap._ Maybe I didn't think this through all the way. He is going to be down for at least a few minutes and pretty groggy for several more. Well, I did this, now I got to pay for it. I drag his upper body up to a sitting position and then pull him the rest of the way up. _Fuck he's heavy_.

I manage to get him up over my shoulder and I start walking back to the others. I walk quicker than normal because he really is heavy. When we get back to camp, I am going to make him pay for this shit. I will show him crazy.

"What the hell did you do this time Eric?" Four ask as we get close. I hear Skyler moan quietly as he starts to come around again. I dump him off my shoulder onto the ground and I don't bother to be gentle about it. "Eric!" Four scolds me like a little old lady.

"Lay off Four. The cocky bastard got what he deserved." The other cadets look at me, half in fear and half in shock. He kneels down to check his vitals. "He's fine, I already checked." I tell him but he checks anyway, so ignore him. More moans and movements start coming out of Skyler. When Four is satisfied he is okay, he gets up and pulls me to the side.

I give him a pointed look at his touch and he wisely drops his hand from my arm. "How'd he do it?" He ask me quietly. I show him the penny that is still in my hand. "Where did he get that?!" His tone suggest that was just as much a question as a comment. "I'm not sure or I would have told you already."

"Well did you ask?"

"Of course I fucking asked. And when he refused to tell me, his bracelet malfunctioned and went off." I try not to smirk. Four gives me a dirty look. "What? I can't help that these things tend to malfunction around me." I have to try hard not to laugh. This isn't the first time I have pulled that little stunt. "You know Eric, one of these days, you are going to get away with these little accidents. I am sure I don't need to remind you what happened when your temper got the best of you with Dani when she was a cadet." He hisses.

My blood boils in less than a second and it takes everything in me not to hit him. How dare he bring that up. I get an inch from his face and try to keep my voice low so the cadets don't hear me. "You better watch it you little piss ant! I am still your superior." He debates something for a moment and then backs off. _That's what I thought!_

Skyler sits up letting out another moan as he starts to become coherent again. I crouch down beside him and smack his cheek lightly. "Cadet, what's your name?" He looks at me confused. "Huh?"

I smack his cheek a little harder a few times. "Hey!" I say louder. "What is your name cadet?"

"Um, Skyler. What just happened?"

"You just found out the consequences for not answering my questions. Hope that lesson was heard loud and clear. Now stand your ass up." I stand up and when he doesn't get up right away I grab his shirt and stand him up. I release him but don't drop my hands until I am sure he isn't going to fall over.

"We should let him rest for a few minutes." Four says. He is probably right, but I really don't care. This is the last class of the day and I am ready for it be done. It is only precautionary that we do that anyway. "He'll be fine. "Cadets, lets go, and unless you want to end up like him, I suggest you stay close." Everyone gathers in a loose group and we start walking back down the trail that leads to camp. Four moves to walk next to Skyler, I'm sure it's because he will be a little wobbly on his fee for at least a few more minutes.

* * *

"Hey sexy!" I whisper into Dani's ear as I come up behind her in the dinner line. Harrison is the only other one in line and I really don't care if he heard me. I see the top of her ears get red and I am sure her face is a pretty shade of pink. She looks toward the wall trying to hide it from everyone. I love being able to make her blush like that.

Once she has her color under control she turns to me. "Good afternoon Eric. How was your day?" She is trying not to give me an affectionate smile. She still has a harder time not showing affection in front of people that shouldn't see it. "It was alright."

She raises an eyebrow. "Alright huh? I heard you had some trouble with Skyler." It figures she already knows. "How did you find out already?"

"Four came to the classroom when you guys got back. We were working on scoring the cadets for today's classes. He told me you took Skyler to the infirmary and then you had to go tell Max what happened." Thankfully we are able to sit at the end of the table away from the cadets. "What did number boy tell you guys already?"

"Stop sulking. He said you took off running after him. Then you came back with him over your shoulder and he was knocked out from the tracker." I take a deep breath and explain it all to her, not leaving out any details other then Four's smart ass comment to me about her.

"So did you find out how he got the penny?" She ask when I finish my story. "Yes, I got him to tell me while he was in the infirmary. He found it on the trail right before we reached the tree. Who knows how long it was on the ground before he found it. It was pretty tarnished looking, it could have been there for years." I give her leg a squeeze under the table. "I got to go." She gives me a quizzical look. "Your hardly ate."

"I have to run, I don't want to get sick. I will eat again later." She gives me a tight nod and I stand. "See you at P.T." I tell her and give her a wink while no one is paying attention to us. She looks down and smiles at her food. God she is so adorable sometimes. I give her one last glance before I walk over to Skyler and grab him by his shirt, pulling him into a standing position.

"What the hell man?" He says and turns to face me. "Follow me." I say sternly hoping I don't have to deal with his smart mouth. Unfortunately that was too much to ask. "I haven't finished my food."

"Well you have now. Jeff, dump his tray." He gives me a nod in agreement and I grab Skyler's shirt again dragging him toward the door. Once outside, I let go and he wisely follows me. We come to a stop on the track and I turn to face him. "Now what?"

"Now, we run." he looks confused again. "Run? How many laps?" I let out a frustrated huff. "I don't recall saying. How about until I am tired of running since you seem to think you can out run me." He measures my words for a moment before responding. "Fine." He turns and starts running so I follow. I don't expect him to last long. I purposely let him eat some dinner because I know once he has ran for a while, it probably will come right back up. The little shit deserves it.

I run comfortably behind him for the first few miles, then he starts to slow. My favorite part. The one time I get to be an asshole and no one questions me. I remove my jacket, letting it drop beside the track as I fall in next to him and start pushing him a little hard. "Pick it up!" And he does for a few more laps.

As more laps pass, he really begins to tire while I have barley began breathing harder. Other than being sweaty, you would never know we have run so many miles. I spit out comment after comment, digging at everything from his strength to his manly hood. He finally collapses but he is far from being completely exhausted. I really did learn my lesson from Dani. He is on his hands and knees whining that he can't keep going.

"Seriously, I have seen girls do better than that." I really have. He isn't even that bad, his legs looked a little shaky the last lap but not terrible and he can still talk so I know he isn't out of breath completely. "Come on man. I am going to puke."

"Go ahead, puke. Then you can stand your pussy ass up and we can keep running." He shakes his head. "I am serious man." He looks at me and he does look a little pale. "So am I. Puke if you need to and then get your pansy ass up and lets go!" I say a little more forceful.

All the sudden, he jumps up and runs over to the side of the building which we were next to and starts puking. Another stroke of irony today, being the building he is getting sick next to is the infirmary. I knew that would happen but it is still disgusting so I turn away and give him a minute to finish. When he stands up I look at him. He looks a little weak but I think he is okay. After a moment of contemplation I decide to take him inside to let Marlene give him a once over. P.T starts in less than ten minutes and I want to make sure he is okay to workout with everyone else. That way if he collapses it is on her, not me.

I grab his arm and pull him inside. "By the way, you will be cleaning that up after P.T." I inform him because I sure ain't doing it and Marlene will be pissed if I leave it.

We get inside and Marlene seems to be thinking hard about something. She looks up, first at Skyler then at me. "Can you check him out and clear him for P.T.?" She comes over, grabbing his arm and leads him into the room to sit on the bed before she goes about checking all his vitals. "Can we make it quick, I have only a few minutes to get out there."

She turns giving me a threatening look. Damn, it must be that time of the month or something. I hold my hands up and take a step back showing not wanting to start shit with her right now. I don't need Paulo bitching at me that she was being pissy. Knowing him, he will get me back by pissing off Dani and I definitely don't want that. So I give in and let her do her work.

After a few minutes, she gets a bottle of water out of the mini fridge and gives it to him, telling him to drink it. "He's fine. He needs to drink that to make sure he doesn't become dehydrated and I want to see him again after P.T." I roll my eyes at her and grab him up off the bed to take him outside. We only have two minutes and it is my day to lead our workout tonight.

By the time I reach the stage, all the cadets have reached the stage along with a few of the staff, but I don't see Dani. She probably got caught up doing something so I get started. She will show up, she always does, well when she isn't mad at me anyway.

I shake my head quickly trying to get my thoughts in order and focus on what we are doing. I am pretty tired already because of the run but that is when I love working out the most. Feeling the burn of my muscles lets me know I am pushing myself to be better and to work harder.

As I continue with our workout I am sure to push Skyler harder than the others. Zeke and Paulo pick up on it and join in on the harassment. Four however, stays back and just works everyone else. He really gets on my nerves sometimes. It's like he is blaming me for what happened today. _What did he want me to do?_

* * *

We finish up P.T. and am a little surprised that Dani didn't show up. I was going to make Skyler clean up his mess from earlier but I am a little worried about her. She probably passed out in the cabin but I want to go check on her anyway. "Skyler, go take a shower you stink, and you will be cleaning up your mess in the morning." He doesn't even look at me. He just walks away toward the dorm.

I go over to Chris and Will who are standing near the stage talking to Paulo. Chris has been hanging out with Dani and Marlene more and more lately. Tris is usually pretty tired at night and doesn't feel like doing much so Chris has gravitated more toward Dani. "Chris, have you seen Dani?" I am hoping she knows where she is.

"She told me after we cleaned up dinner that she was going to walk around the back field since you were running on the track." I shake my head and unsuccessfully try to hold in a smile. _Of course she is._ She is probably out there running or walking, listening to her music. I swear she gets lost when she does that. I don't know how many times I have had to pull her back to reality, even when she was a cadet here.

I give her a nod in thanks and head for the field. It is pretty dark back there right now but there are some lights on the cabins that provide some dim light out there. Maybe I can even walk a few laps with her. It is nice to have time alone with her, even if walking is all we are doing. Maybe we can sneak to the outer edge of the woods and steal a few kisses. I can't help the smile that plaster itself on my face.

I round the corner of the cabins and look around the field. It takes my eyes a minute to adjust to the dimmer lighting conditions but when they do I look carefully across the whole field. She's not here. _Where is she?_

I turn and head for her cabin. Maybe she already finished and figured it was too late to join P.T. I knock on her door and wait. When she doesn't answer I knock again. My heart is starting to race slightly.

 _Nothing_. I try the door but it's locked. If she was here, then it would be unlocked. _Shit._

Now I am worried. I pull out my phone and trying calling her. It goes straight to voice mail, so I go to Jeff's cabin. I am grateful that he opens immediately. "Jeff have you seen Dani?" His eyebrows pull together. "Not since dinner, why?" Harrison jumps up and comes to the door. I really fucking hate that man but right now my priority is finding her. Even if it means getting help from him. "I am not sure. She was suppose to be running in the back field but she isn't there or in her cabin."

"She has to be here somewhere." Jeff says. "Can you guys check the other buildings and the cabins, I am going to pull up her tracker if I don't find her in the gym. "Sure!" Harrison says and I don't wait for anything else.

I go over to the gym, but it is empty. I rub my face, unable to hide my frustration any more and I start jogging for the office as I call Will to meet me there. This cannot be happening again. She didn't leave the main camp. _How can she just disappear?_

Will is already at the office with Chris when I get there. "What's up?" He ask concerned. "Track Dani!"

"What now?" He ask, but I no longer have any patience. "Just do it!" I spat at him. "Okay, okay." He starts pulling it up and the program begins looking for her. I begin pacing beside the desk as Jeff and Harrison come in. Both shake their heads.

"Eric?" Will says quietly. I look down at the screen and read the error message. 'Signal Not Found'. Will looks up to me. "The phone is off or dead."

"Fuck. Check the cameras." I tell him and I sit down at my desk to start looking as well. "Chris, did you see her go back there?" My composure is starting to break as I realize this is not a fluke. "I saw her walking between the cabins about a half hour after dinner ended."

I pull up the camera's on the cabins. They only cover part of the back field. I find the camera shot that shows her walking into the field. My heart races at the site of her. She stops and puts in her ear buds before she jogs off out of the frame. This camera shows the furthest out but it doesn't show the back half of the field. Pressing fast forward I keep an eye out for her. She comes back into the frame as she jogs laps, once, twice, three times and then nothing. My stomach drops as the time stamp keeps spinning with no more appearances.

"She did go for a run back there but I don't see anything after three laps. I even went until you went back there." Will says. "Me neither." I check the other camera's on that side of the camp. I can't believe this is happening again.

"Harrison?" He looks over to me. "Can you do a quick lap around the field to make sure she isn't...over there?" I can't bring myself to say 'on the ground' out loud. He nods and sprints out the door. "Why does bad shit always got to happen to her?" Jeff mumbles to himself. "My thoughts exactly." I reply although I don't think he was looking for one.

Max walks in with Marlene and gives us all a odd look. "Hey everyone, what's going on?" He look directly to me. "We are not sure just yet?" I don't want him to freak out for no reason but if Harrison comes back empty handed, then I need to tell him. Unfortunately my gut is telling me she is not there or I would have went myself.

Then it occurs to me that Max wasn't called here. "What about you? Did you need something?" I ask. His lips press in a line. "Actually yes. I was looking for Will. I was needing to see the video from the infirmary today and to know if there was any interruption issues." We all look to Will at once.

"Um, the camera was static for a few minutes earlier. I went to check and it was just a loose wire. Nothing too out of the ordinary. I put it in my daily report and reviewed the camera's around the infirmary to be sure, why?" Only a few people know where the access points to the camera's are but we do use them to our advantage when we want to, hence the 'not out of the ordinary' comment.

I am surprised when Marlene speaks up. "I am missing several dose of Methohexital." _Oh Shit!_ "You mean the stuff we use in the trackers to knock out the cadets?" Jeff questions realizing what she's saying. "Yes!" The rest of us all say at once.

"Why?" Max questions me again. Harrison walks in out of breath. "She not anywhere back there." He gets out after taking a few deep breaths. "She who? What the hell is going on Eric?" Max all but yells at me.

"Dani is missing...Again!"

* * *

 **Okay, okay, I know! Cliffhangers are evil. Many of you have guessed some of the unsaid things that will start revealing themselves in the next few chapters. Please, please let me know what you are thinking. All comments and reviews are always welcome.**

 ***Side note: This book will be coming to a close soon but don't worry. As I have told many of you, there WILL be a third book. So until next time!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Whoohoo. Got another chapter for you. Told you it was going to get a little hectic and so it has begun. I know you guys hate those cliff hangers so I worked hard to get this one out to you sooner and hopefully to make up for my lack of timely updates you guys love so much. I really liked how this turned out so Enjoy!**

This story is rated M/MA for Lemons, language and situations. Not appropriate for younger readers!

Disclaimer: All divergent characters belong to Veronica Roth, all original characters are mine. V.R. characters look like those in the movie. Hope you all enjoy, reviews and thoughts are welcome.

* * *

 **Chapter 23**

 _(Saturday, December 12th)_

My head hurts so much. I groan and even that hurts my head. _What the hell happened?_ I try to think back to the last thing I remember and after a second it comes to me.

 **Flashback**

"Hey Dani, Tris!" Four says as he walks in and over to Tris giving her an adorable smile. His hand finds its way to her stomach and he begins drawing small circles on her tummy. She looks up at him with such affection, I feel like I should leave, like I am interrupting a special moment by just being here. She must sense my discomfort and breaks their eye contact. "How was your hike?" She ask getting a little red as she glances at me.

"Very...eventful." Her eyes shoot back to his. "What happened this time?" She doesn't even sound surprised.

"Skyler tried to escape. Eric took off after him and I don't know what happened but he came back with Skyler over his shoulder passed out." I let out a big sigh. "He hit him, what the hell is he thinking?" I ask.

 _That's my Eric._ I mentally shake my head. Always in the middle of the chaos, but I expected him to show a little more restraint.

"Well he didn't exactly hit him." Four says as he presses his lips in a line. I am totally confused now. "But you said he was passed out."

"Yeah, well he sort of made Skyler's tracker go off." _Oh_. I look down for a moment trying to piece this together in my head. "So he managed to try to escape but didn't take off his tracker. How did he do that?"

"He stuck a penny between his wrist and the tracker."

"We aren't allowed to carry change. How did he get a hold of a penny?" He shakes his head. "He's with him in the infirmary now trying to figure that out." I let out a huff. "Do you really think that is a good idea?" I ask with a raised eyebrow. "If anyone will be able to get him to talk, it will be Eric, but don't expect him to be in a good mood this evening. He had to tell Max too and I'm sure he will be running him into the ground for the rest of the night." _Great!_

With one more quick look Four tells Tris goodbye and that he will see her at dinner. We finish up our paperwork and then I go back to the cabin. Studying any spare time I have is getting old quick because I would be rather spending it with Eric, but he is busy anyway and I only have one week left before I have winter break. One quarter down, two more to go and that means I am that much closer to being to where I want to be.

Geez, it seems like only yesterday I was wondering how the hell I was going to get through all this, but this quarter had the heaviest work load and now I am one week away from finishing it. I shake the wayward thoughts out of my head and begin on the task at hand.

Thankfully dinner comes all too soon. Before I even know it, it's five o'clock and just in time because my stomach begins to express it's emptiness. I hadn't seen Eric yet but really I didn't expect to. I put my stuff away and head to the dinning hall. I am one of the last to enter but Eric isn't here yet. I get in line behind Harrison. I really hope he comes. He wasn't outside running Skyler yet so I have no idea what he is doing. I just want to see him, it seems I only feel whole these days when he is in my site.

"Hey sexy!" I hear a whisper in my ear and boy the sound of his seductively low voice does all kinds of things to me. I love when he talks to me in that voice, especially when we are alone. _Hmmm._ Just the though of him naked makes me blush. I turn toward the wall so people can't see my face. I hate that he can do that to me.

I take a deep breath to calm myself before I look back at him. "Good afternoon Eric. How was your day?" God he is so freaking hot. What I wouldn't give to just be alone with him right now. I mentally smack myself. I need to get my emotions under control.

"It was alright." He is trying to be sly so I raise my eyebrow at him. "Alright huh? I heard you had some trouble with Skyler." Realization hits his face and I have to try hard to not smile

"How did you find out already?" He looks a little irritated, like he was excited to tell me himself and now his plan is spoiled. I explain that we got a visit from Four.

If Eric were capable, he would be frowning right now but his face is definitely a picture of disappointment. "What did number boy tell you guys already?" He ask as we sit down.

I explain what we were told and then he fills me in on the parts no one saw. He almost seems proud of himself, cracking a bit of a smile as he explained how he ran off and let the tracker activate. He can be so evil sometimes but ever so resourceful. At least he didn't hit the little shit because I sure would have wanted to. As he finishes his story he seems to hold something back but I'm not sure.

"So did you find out how he got the penny?" It is really the only part I am still not sure of. "Yes, I got him to tell me while he was in the infirmary. He found it on the trail right before we reached the tree. Who knows how long it was on the ground before he found it. It was pretty tarnished looking, it could have been there for years." Well I guess that explains it. I still don't know how John managed to get his off back when he escaped. I will have to ask him some day.

I suddenly feel him squeeze my leg. "I got to go." _No._ His plate is still mostly full. _What could be so important?_ "You hardly ate."

"I have to run, I don't want to get sick. I will eat again later." Of course, he is always the one who administers punishment. I give him a nod. "See you at P.T." He says giving me that wink that always hits my core. I look down trying to hold my emotions together but I can't help but smile at the thought of him working out, or even better, him working me out.

"What the hell man?" I hear Skyler ask and my smile grows as I know what is about to happen to him. "I haven't finished my food." He whines. I silently laugh. _Trust me kid, you are going to regret eating at all._ Eric tells Jeff to take care of his tray and Jeff nods at him as he drags Skyler outside.

Jeff gets up and puts the tray away before coming to sit next to me. "So you gonna tell me what's going on?" Christina raises an eyebrow. "Did I miss something?" She ask and scoots closer to me to hear the gossip. At least if I tell her, she will gladly re-tell it to everyone so I don't have to. I take a deep calming breath and quietly start to explain this afternoon's exciting event.

Chris's facial expressions are so animated I almost laugh at her. Jeff on the other hand just keeps a straight face. When I finish Jeff looks up at me. "Damn your man is a little psychotic, you know that right?" I can't help but giggle because he is sort of right, but I give him a light punch anyway since he shouldn't talk about Eric that way.

He grabs his arm and rubs it. "Ouch." He says making me laugh again. "Whatever jerk. I didn't hit you that hard, but I can if you want me to..." I threaten and he puts his hands up in defense. I have to roll my eyes at his goofy behavior. He always seems to know just how to make me laugh.

We continue going back and forth playfully until everyone is done eating. I decide to stay and help Chris supervise the cadets. I really don't feel like studying right now. I have been glancing out the window and watching Eric run Skyler. It should probably be disturbed that he enjoys that so much but really I'm not. In fact, right now I wish I was the one out there with him.

I could go out and run with him but it wouldn't be very appropriate. He is trying to teach him a lesson and I shouldn't impede on that. He knows what he is doing. I of anyone knows that he is good at his job and I don't want to take away from that.

We finish cleaning but I still have way too much energy. I need to run, but I can't go out to the court yard and I know that I would never get away with running on the trails after what happened a few weeks ago. Chris turns out the lights and we walk over to the door.

"You want to go hang out at my cabin?" She ask with pleading eyes. I know she has been craving some excitement since Tris has been tired a lot more lately. I hate to break her heart but I am not really in the mood. "Sorry Chris but I really just wanted to go for a walk and get out some of these pre-final jitters." I give her an apologetic smile but I hope she understands, even though my excuse is only half true. I really just want to be with Eric and if I can't be then right now, I don't want to be around anyone.

"You going to go run with Eric?"

"No, he is dealing with Skyler. I think I will just go out in the back field. The lights on the building provide just enough to be able to get around at night." She looks like she is debating something but decides not to say it. "Well okay. I will see you later then." She smiles at me and we walk outside and go our separate ways. She heads toward the offices, probably to see Will.

I head to the cabins. I grab my Ipod and my zip up hoodie out of my cabin before I go to the back field. I slip on my hoodie and as I go between the cabins, I hear Eric. "Pick it up!" I smile as I turn around and see him pacing Skyler much closer than he needs to be. He is in his tee shirt and you can see all of his muscles flexing as he runs. Damn, I could watch that man run for days!

I take a deep breath and force myself to turn around and go about my own mission. I can run back here for a while until P.T. and then I will go join them. I stop as I get back to the field and put my ear buds in before I start running. The sun is setting and the stars are starting to come out. I love running this time of night, it is so beautiful. I jog lightly and at a steady pace. There is really no reason to rush, I just need to kill some time.

I should be able to get in at least ten or so laps before P.T. It will be good warm up cardio. I turn up my music and try to clear my head. The only thing I focus on is counting my laps so I will know about when P.T. will start.

 _One lap down. Two laps down. Three laps down._

I am almost half way through the third lap when suddenly I get a strange feeling I am being watched. I shake my head because I wouldn't be surprised if Eric was watching me. I continue to run since I will see him on my way back around. _Oomph._ Someone knocks me down hard from behind and then sits on my back. I feel a prick in my neck. _What the hell?_ I try to turn but I can't. I struggle harder as I realize this is not someone's idea of a joke. I start to feel funny and I begin to get dizzy. All my limbs are going numb and I hear a small laugh before the blackness over takes me.

 **End Flashback**

I feel so tired still but I don't feel physically hurt other than my aching head. I try to move my arms but they are tied together behind my back and attached to something. There isn't any give. I finally open my eyes but it is dark, really dark. I only see a small amount of light coming from under a door. _Where the hell am I?_ I move my legs from under me and stretch them out. I am able to kick something to my right, it sounds like a bucket but it makes too much noise. Probably not the smartest thing in the world to do considering my position.

But I am not sure why the hell I am here. _Why am I tied up here and who would do this?_ All my questions are answered in the next moment as the door opens and a light illuminates the room.

 _Lynn!_

"What the Fuck!" I say in complete shock but my anger shows through strong.

"Now, now Dani. We've talked about that anger haven't we." _Seriously!_ "What the hell are you doing Lynn?" My voice cracks a little as she lowers the lantern in her hand and I really see her face. She doesn't look so good. She looks like she hasn't slept in a week. Dark circles surrounds her eyes, her skin is pale and her hair is a mess. "How the hell did I get here? and where is here exactly?" I ask when she doesn't answer. She continues to stare at me for another minute before she tilts her head to the side and answers. "Oh I just thought it was time for us to have a heart to heart is all." _Is she really serious?_

"I don't want to talk to you now let me go!" I yell and start moving around to try to loosen whatever I am tied up with. "Dani? Danielle pay attentions!" I look back up at her and she pulls out a knife from her belt loop. I stop struggling and stare at the large blade she is holding in one hand and lightly tracing over the blade with the other. _Fuck!_ "Now that is better. As I was saying, I thought we would have a little talk. Just us girls. You know, girl talk." No I really don't know, I'm not big on girl talk.

"As for how you got here, well that was pretty easy. Thanks to that hunk of a man Eric, I have gotten fairly acquainted with the camp." She gets a sly smile on her face. "We have snuck away on several occasions being Eric doesn't like to mix business and pleasure, but I can tell you, he can give all kinds of pleasures. Take this place for example."

I look around. We are in a small little shack that can't be more than five feet by five feet. There are all kinds of out door things like shovels, chain saws, and buckets. It has to be some kind of maintenance shed. We must be close to the camp still.

"HELP! PLEASE SOMEONE!" I shout as loud as I can. Lynn comes up to me and slaps me hard across the face. "That is enough of that!" She shouts before smoothing out her shirt and starts talking in a much calmer manner. "I really don't like shouting and besides, we are too far away for them to hear you. As I was saying, this place was a little get away shack that Eric use to meet me at. There are a few of them placed along the trails throughout the property. You know, basic maintenance stuff to keep up the trails." Disgusting. They actually came out here just to have sex in a dirty old shack? A shiver runs through me at the thought.

"I would meet Eric here and he would have his dirty little way with me. The things that man can do." She shakes her head. Well at least she got the 'dirty' part right. "You don't deserve a man like him you know. You can't please him like I can, you can't possibly understand what a broken man like him needs to stay sane." I feel like throwing up. I don't want to listen to this shit. She has no idea what he needs and he is far from broken. Urrgg, my fucking head is killing me already with out having to listen to this.

"Why does my head hurt so damn bad?" I ask not really expecting an answer since she hasn't bothered to answer any other of my questions. "Oh sorry about that. You were a little heavier than I expected and you started to wake up before I could get you back here. I only had two doses to put you under. I may have hit your head on the ground when you woke up and started struggling. I had to let you go and I think you may have hit your head on a rock. Not that it matters anyway. Back to what is important."

"Important?" I give her a quizzical look. I don't see how anything she has to say is important. "Yes. I need to know."

"Need to know what exactly?" She is starting to sound like a crazy person. Well, she is crazy but now she is sounding loony toons. "I need to know what your and Eric's relationship is like. If I am going to get him back, I need to know what I need to do to make him happy." Okay, she has officially went off the deep end.

"Lynn, you will never be with Eric. You are going to jail. You tried to kill me. What part of that doesn't compute?" I know I really shouldn't irritate her more but I can't help it. "Well you see that is where your wrong, but we can come back to that. How do you get him to drop his guard with you? I have never seen him do that with anyone and trust me, I have seen him with a lot of women."

 _You got to be fucking kidding me._ "I don't get him to do anything. He just does it." She shakes her head again. "Come on Dani, you can be honest with me. You have to have some trick up your sleeve. Was it that whole, I can't be touched but I will let you touch me because your special, trick?"

"Trick, that was no trick. I have a fucked up past, I never lied about my panic attacks. I don't know why I don't react the same way to him." She frowns and I know she doesn't believe me. "Dani, come on. Give up the pity routine."

"Pity! I don't want anyone to pity me!" I shout at her and she takes a step forward and slaps me hard again. _Fuck that hurts!_ "Now I said there is no need to shout and if you do it again..." She puts the knife up to my face and runs it lightly over my cheek. "I might just decide to get rid of you before I have the information I want and trust me, I have no qualms with just killing you now. I almost succeeded twice now. I will not fail the third time." She stands up and walks out of the room. I can see outside. It's completely dark other than a small amount of light coming from the moon. I have no idea what time it is but the moon is low on the horizon still so it can't be too late. I must not have been out for very long.

I just really hope Eric finds me soon. He will find me, I know it. I just need to hold her off until then. Something tells me she doesn't expect me to walk out of here alive. Part of that thought scares the shit out of me, but after everything I have been through, death really doesn't scare me so much anymore. Although I will miss Eric like crazy, I always figured my bad luck would end me at an early age and now that I had a chance to experience true happiness, at least I will die happy.

She come back into the room shutting the door and laying a blanket on the floor in front of me. She sits cross legged on the blanket front of me with the knife on her lap. I need to keep her talking. The longer we talk, the long Eric has to find me. I really don't want him to find me dead. I don't know if he would be able to handle that after the last time. I don't want him doing anything stupid. I look up into her eyes and careful decide what to say.

"What do you mean by twice?" I ask curious about when else she tried to kill me, the first time obviously when she stabbed me. She frowns at me. "You don't remember?" She ask tilting her head to the side again. She looks really crazy when she does that. I shake my head no. "In the woods." She pauses and I continue to stare at her.

"When you were running. It was coincidence really. I didn't expect anyone to be up on the trail. I like to go out there and wander around. I didn't think I would run into anyone, especially not you. I am quite surprised Eric let his precious little girlfriend out of his sight after what happened to you back in Des Moines. Now, I really didn't have anything to do with that, but I can say that I didn't bother to help either. You see, I have been watching you and Eric for a while now. It was easier when you guys went to the condo because you were closer and there weren't as many people paying attention. I admit is is a bit of an obsession but I just couldn't figure out how in the world you got him to open up. It was like you guys just fell into this normal couple routine. You got him to smile, to laugh, to be so relaxed. It is a side of him I have never seen until now." She stares off toward the wall for a moment lost in thought, but she snaps out of it quickly with a shake of her head. "And now that I have seen it, I want it." Her expression turns hard for a moment and then softens.

"Anyways, back to what I was saying. I was up walking on the trail when I heard someone running. I hid behind a tree and when I saw it was you, I just couldn't help myself. When you passed me I just ran into you as hard as I could and you went tumbling down the ridge. It wasn't my intention to kill you but it sure wouldn't have broken my heart if you were." I let out a huff. "Sorry sweets, you just don't mean anything to me."

"Apparently." I mutter but she just shrugs and continues. "You were out by the time you hit the tree. I thought about going down and checking to see if you were alive but that ridge was so steep, I didn't want to risk me falling as well, so I left. Unfortunately for me, you lived. That was twice you managed to avoid death despite my efforts." _I knew it._ I knew I didn't just fall over that ridge. This stupid bitch tried to kill me.

 _AGAIN!_

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 **Yes! Several of you guys were on the right track thinking Lynn was behind stuff. I have said it before but those psychiatrist always seem to be the craziest. More to come, I am starting the next chapter right now. Please let me know what you think. All comments and reviews are always welcome. This book is coming down to a close in the next few chapters but don't worry, it's not the end. Until next time!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Just a quick note...Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to all my readers. This book series just past 50k views. That is absolutely amazing and I am so grateful to have such awesome readers. I love you all more then you could know! I really hope you enjoy the chapter as much as I loved writing it.**

This story is rated M/MA for Lemons, language and situations. Not appropriate for younger readers!

Disclaimer: All divergent characters belong to Veronica Roth, all original characters are mine. V.R. characters look like those in the movie. Hope you all enjoy, reviews and thoughts are welcome.

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 **Chapter 24**

 _(Saturday, December 12th)_

 **ERIC POV**

"This is a waste of fucking time Max!"

"Eric you need to calm down and don't forget who you are talking to. We need to be sure this isn't her trying to have some 'private time'. We all know how she can be, especially when you two are having _issues_." I really can't believe he just went there.

"We weren't fighting. In fact I had her happy and blushing at dinner. This time it isn't _my_ fault." I say trying not to yell. Harrison and Jeff both look at me. Okay, so I just admitted that sometimes it's my fault but not this time. She really was fine when I walked out. This isn't one of those times she is pissed at me and takes off. I do usually understand his reasoning but this time he is wrong and we are wasting valuable time.

Max has put the camp on lockdown and ordered Zeke to watch over the cadets while we look for her. We have been over this whole camp with a fine tooth comb and she is nowhere to be found. Paulo and Four finally get back. "She not out at the garage and all the vehicles are here." Paulo says through his heavy breathing.

"I told you. She wouldn't just leave like that, and for the record Eric is right." Jeff says and our eyes meet, agreement between us isn't our strong suit. "She was happy at dinner. She wasn't mad or upset. We were joking around like there were no cares in the world."

"She seemed fine when we left the dining haul too." Christina finally speaks up. She seemed a little distracted but not mad or upset at all."

"Besides, you saw the footage. She went running just like she told Chris. Why would she just take off all the sudden?" Jeff ask Max clearly getting just as irritated as me, but Max doesn't like to be questioned. Usually I get his methods but this is stupid. "It isn't like this is the first time she has up and disappeared and we all know it. However, now that we know she is not in the main camp, we can take the next step." _Finally!_

"And what would that be exactly? Call the police?" Harrison ask and I think we all give him the same dumbfounded look. "Why the hell would we do that?" Paulo ask. "It isn't like they would help us do anything anyway." Harrison doesn't seem to like his condescending tone.

"She is missing and we need to find her. Smart people call the police when someone goes missing. Otherwise you are likely to become the top suspect." He retorts, looking to Max. "Your both right. I mean we will need to call sometime soon but she is an adult with a record. Legally they won't even consider her missing for twenty-four hours and then with her record, it is unlikely they will take this very serious unless we have some type of proof to . That means we need to figure out what our next logical step is." Harrison still doesn't seem happy with Max's answer but Max ignores him and continues.

"She didn't leave by vehicle that we know of so she is likely close by. I didn't want to say it earlier, but there is a possibility of some sicko out in those woods. We need to check the trails. For what ever reason she isn't here at the camp and based on the camera footage, there are only two trails back there in which she would likely have left by."

I try to push away the thought that someone actually took her but nothing else makes sense right now.

"So we divide into two groups." Paulo says picking up on what I am thinking. "Both those trails divide into two. So we do two groups of four people and when the trail splits, we split into twos." I nod agreeing with him. Max looks from Paulo to me.

"I agree. It is getting late so I want you guys to be careful. Eric, you, Paulo, Jeff and Four take one trail. Harrison, you, Uriah, Chris and I will take the other. Tori, I need you to stay to help Zeke with the cadets and you can contact the police to make a missing person's report just in case. Will, I want you looking at those camera's again. Look at everything from this afternoon from all around camp. One of them had to catch something out of the ordinary. Tris, you stay and help Will. I don't want something happening to you out there." Four lets out a sigh of relief which only seems to displease Tris even more.

"Max I can help!" She tries to say but Max quickly cuts her off. "Tris this is not up for discussion and don't you start in with that insubordination shit either. That is my orders and I expect them to be followed. Understand?" She looks down pissed off, giving him a quick nod. "Will, you need to call me if you find anything. I want everyone's push-to-talk on your cell phones turned on. I want to know what is going on with everyone at all times. We don't need to take anymore risk then what is necessary. Keep an eye on each other and for christ sake be careful. Don't forget we are out in the woods. There are deadly animals out in the woods and during the night, they are more likely to mistake you for prey." Shit, another thing I didn't even think about.

 _Please let her be okay._

We all nod and I am getting really antsy to get out of here already. Everyone heads for the lockers and several of us grab the black hiking backpacks. I feel someone tug at me. I turn to see Will pulling me to the side of the room. "I checked and her phone stopped pinging a signal around six o'clock which means if someone does have her, they have one hell of a head start." I look down at my watch. It's just past eight-thirty already. _Shit!_

"Her signal was last seen at the far end of the field so my guess is she is up that trail." I give him a grateful nod and take off out the door with everyone else hot on my heels. I can't help but shake my head. We should have been doing this the minute we realized she was gone. _God, if your up there, please let her be okay._

I have a really bad feeling about this. We make it out to the field and I start to push my self faster. "Eric, wait for your group." Max shouts. "Then tell them to keep up." I say with a growl but let up the slightest bit.

I hear Max speak up again. "Harrison, stick with Uriah. He knows these woods like the back of his hand. Chris, you stay close to me at all times."

"Jeff you stick with me." I don't know why I said it but right now it just feels right that he sticks with me. Besides, Paulo and Four will be okay on their own. "Max, you guys take this first trail." I say as we approach the trail. "We will take the other one." I take his silence as agreement and they disappear into the woods.

The back trail leads along the river and is pretty flat. If someone took her by force there is no way she went easy. Since I never heard her yell or scream, it had to be someone strong enough to restrain her quickly. It's still hard to believe even then that anyone could do it without her making a sound considering the immense strength she has shown in the past when she is attacked or restrained. That leaves only one other option, which is they knocked her out. I shutter at the thought and my heart begins to race. But if someone did have to drag her or carry her, it would be easier to take her along this back trail.

"Max you copy?" Tori's voice comes over the speaker on my phone and I listen carefully.

"I copy Tori, what do you got?"

"I called the police. They are sending out a officer to take the report."

"Thanks Tori. Let me know if you find out anything further and make sure Zeke has the cadets under control."

"Ten-four"

Great, Cle Elum and Roslyn's finest on the case. I bet we find her before they even make it to the camp. I glance back to make sure the others are all still with me. This trail splits and goes up the hill about another mile down. Something tells me I am on the right track though. I will be following this trail all the way to the road where it come out to about eight miles out. I just hope Jeff can stick with me the whole way. He isn't in as good as shape and even though we won't be going up hill, it's still a pretty good distance.

This still doesn't make sense to me. _Who would take her? Why would they take her?_ I know she has a crazy way of attracting the wrong type of men, but it's pretty rare for anyone to be out on these trails. Most of them are camp property and many of them aren't accessible from anywhere but the camp unless you go off trail. This is one of the few that actually comes out on a road.

Jeff has surprisingly been keeping pace. I have been pushing a little harder knowing Paulo and Four are behind me. I know they can keep up but Jeff has been on my heels since we stepped foot on the trail. We reach the split where there the other trail leads up the ridge and signal with two fingers up the trail. Paulo and Four silently split off not bothering to say a word. I only know they are gone from the lack of pounding feet behind me.

Jeff mumbles something behind me. "What's that?" I ask. "Nothing. I just...have a bad feeling about this. Something is off and none of it makes sense." He's right. Like Max said, there are people in these woods sometimes but I have never seen them come to camp let alone actually take someone. But I can't count out Dani's ridiculous amount of bad luck. It wouldn't surprise me if this is a first for the camp, that it would happen to her. "Your right." I say simply and he speeds up to my side and gives me a strange look like he can't believe I am agreeing with him on anything.

"I have had a bad feeling about this since the moment I seen her go into the field on the camera."

I also can't help but think Lynn is behind this. Not that I am willing to admit that to anyone right now because if it is Lynn, that would mean Dani is in danger, yet again, and it would be my fault. It would mean she might get hurt again because of my fucked up past, but it's the one thing that seem plausible right now. I have a hard time believing anyone in camp would want to take the Methohexital, except maybe Harrison. I don't know him well enough to rule it out, but Lynn knows the camp well. She would know how to disable the camera and she would know how to sneak in and out of the camp. She has a doctoral degree and would be able to access information about the drug to know how much to use.

The one thing that doesn't make sense is why she would bother to take her. It makes sense to knock Dani out because I don't think Lynn could win in a fair fight, but then what? The only reason she would even do that is to hurt her or... _NO_ ... I refuse to even think it. I do have to admit that she has motive. Without Dani around, there would be no one to testify against her at trail. Dani told me that her lawyer said the evidence was circumstantial but with the overwhelming amount of it, she would likely lose if it went to trail. But if that was her intention then why wouldn't she do it after knocking her out? Why would she take her anywhere? It doesn't benefit her in anyway to stick around. That only would increase her chance of getting caught and going to jail for even longer.

If she did take her, she would have to had help. There is no way Lynn could carry or even drag Dani ten miles by herself, unless...

I shine the light on the ground and look carefully. The trail is too small for a car but someone could drive an ATV on these trails. We have a few back at the camp in the garage in case of an emergency, but I don't see any tracks. I don't even see any drag marks either. _Fuck! Why can't I think this through?_

Maybe I am just over thinking this whole thing. Maybe it is just a random thing, maybe Lynn has nothing to do with this. I glance at Jeff who is still pacing me but I can tell he is getting tired. We have been running for almost thirty minutes so we are have to be getting close.

I don't even know what we are going to do if we don't find her. The radio has been silent so no one has found anything. Not that I expect them too. I don't think she is down the other trails. Not to mention it is so fucking dark out here. The moon is not out and I can barely see a foot or two into the tree line without shining the light at something specific. She could just be laying somewhere and we could run right past her.

I have to stop thinking like that. She will be okay, she is a fighter. Something that has become extremely clear in the short amount of time I have known her. I can't help but think about the first time I seen her hit that cadet in the face for touching her. The look on her face was pure focus and without ever having any training she laid an almost perfect punch right to his face. I realize now, that watching her those first few weeks was just pure fascination with a girl that was obviously different then any other I had ever seen. As hard as she tried to fit in and seem normal, she was anything but.

We come to a sliding halt as we reach a dirt road. _Shit!_ I didn't know what I expected to find but I can't help the overwhelming amount of disappointment that is spreading through my body right now.

"Shit. What now?" Jeff ask

"I don't know. Everything in me was telling me I would find her down this trail." She can't be gone. I try to shake the thought out of my head. "Maybe we missed her."

"Missed her where?"

"If I knew that, we wouldn't be standing here right now!" I snap at him and he looks down. "She has to be here. I didn't see any sign of someone coming down this way." I run my flash light back and forth over the dirt road. It has rained a little over the last few days making the dirt soft and there is no sign of fresh tire tracks. This back road is hardly ever used. Jeff follows my light and seems to understand my thoughts.

Maybe she is hurt somewhere just outside of our sight. We could have passed her and not known it. "Maybe we should call out for her as we head back."

"What if whoever took her hears us. They might hurt her." He is right. I take a deep breath as a grab at my hair with both of my hands. "FUUUUUCCCK!" I scream as loud as I can not being able to hold it in anymore.

"I fucking don't know Jeff. Do you have a better fucking idea because if you do speak up already because I don't fucking know!" I shout at him as I turn away trying to hide my face as I begin to lose it. I am out of ideas, I don't know what the hell to do. _Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!_

I feel a hand on my shoulder. "Dude, it's okay. We'll find her." I take another deep breath trying to reign in my rage. "If anyone can survive a bad situation, it's her." I nod my head in agreement because about that, he is absolutely right.

He gives me a hard slap on the shoulder. "Come on." I turn back as I feel the weight of his hand disappear off my shoulder and see Jeff starting to jog back down the trail yelling out to Dani. I swallow the lump that is starting to form in my throat and I follow him yelling out for her as well.

I call Max and let him know we didn't find anything and we are on our way back. Harrison and Paulo call in that they are also on there way back. Max must have taken the steeper trail because he is the last to report that he is on his way back.

Jeff and I trade off calling out for her every fifteen seconds or so. I listen hard hoping to hear her sweet voice but I hear nothing besides the quite sounds of the forest creatures. I look as deep as I can into the forest hoping to catch a glimpse of something out of the ordinary but all I see are trees and plants.

We have slowed considerably due to Jeff. I can tell he is exhausted but he hasn't complained once. He just continues to push as hard as he can. However his voice gives it away as he tries to yell for Dani again and it comes out sounding like a sheep's broken whine. It would seem that him and Dani actually have quite a bit in common. I slow down more grabbing his shirt to slow him as he begins to pass me and he gets the point. There was a tremendous need to get to the end of the trail as quick as possible which we did. There really isn't such a need to hurry as fast back to the camp, besides we are getting close anyways.

Jeff puts his hands on the back of his head as he tries to catch his breath but we still continue to walk at a fast pace. After a few more feet I stop suddenly by a familiar disgusting sound. I turn to see Jeff puking into a bush. He pushed himself too much.

I pull the backpack off my shoulder and pull out a bottle of water. I tap his shoulder with the bottle and he takes it before he starts another round of emptying his stomach contents. Yep, this is totally something she would have done. Not caring about herself, always putting everyone before herself.

I give him another minute to finish. I yell out for Dani again trying to drowned out the nauseating sound of Jeff getting sick. He finally stands up and takes a drink of the water. "Don't drink too much too quick." I tell him not wanting to hear him vomit again. "Sorry about that." He should really get into better shape. "It's fine. Ready?"

"Yeah." I give him one last look before turning to continue, but I freeze in place. I put my hand out at once stopping Jeff in place. "Did you hear that?" I swear I heard something, but I am not sure from where. _Fuck. Why wasn't I paying better attention?_

"I didn't hear anything. Are you sure your okay?" I don't like his questioning tone. "I fucking heard something." We both look around. "Eric I don't hear..."

"That, I heard it again." I cut him off as I hear something again but this time I know it was behind us. I spin around and Jeff mimics my actions. I swear that sounded like...I don't know but it sure didn't sound like a damn animal. He must not have heard it because he gives me a confused look and shakes his head no. I put my finger to my lips to tell him to stay quiet. I want to hear it again. We stay silent for several minutes, dead still but there is nothing. Maybe I am hearing things.

Then I hear the distinct thud of foot falls. At least I know I ain't completely crazy because Jeff looks at me with knowing eyes. It sounds like two sets. I have no idea how close we are to camp but we have to be close to the trail split off. Walking several more feet I shine my light to the left side. It only takes a few more moments for Paulo and Jeff to come out onto the trail about thirty feet in front of us.

"Did you guys find anything?" The words gush out of my mouth before they even realize I am behind them. They both spin around quickly. "Eric?" Four questions. "Did you find anything?" I ask again a little more impatient.

"No, nothing." Paulo says sounding defeated. Maybe, just maybe.

"Did you guys hear anything a minute ago?" They look at each other before they look between me and Jeff, who had come to stand next to me. "No why did you guys?" Paulo says with just a glimmer of hope in his eyes. Shit.

"I didn't but Eric thinks he did." I glare at him. "I heard something. I just don't know what it was."

"Are you sure it wasn't a animal?" Four questions and it takes everything in me not to hit him. It wasn't an animal, at least I don't think so. I shine my light around once more looking carefully in the tree line but I don't see anything. The trees and bushes are pretty dense down here in the valley.

My thoughts are interrupted by Tori's voice. "Max you got a copy?"

"I'm hear, everything okay?" I freeze once more waiting to get an update. "The police have arrived. They would like to talk to everyone." _Great!_

"We are on our way back. Harrison, Eric, Four, give me your status."

Harrison answers before I can. "We just made it back, we will be in the office in a few minutes."

"Good. Eric?" If we are at the trail split we are pretty close. "We're almost back. Fours with us. Give us a few minutes." _Urg_. I hate dealing with the police. I look down the trail one more time behind us.

Letting out a sigh, I turn back toward camp and start jogging. "Lets go!" I order and I hear their boots fall in behind me, but I can't get that noise out of my head. I know I heard it. Replaying in my head though, I think it may have been just an animal. I think my emotions really are getting the best of me. They are making me hear things that are simply not there.

"Max you got a copy?" Harrison's voice crackles over the radio. "Harrison what is it?"

"Hurry back, we uh, found something here." _No..._

* * *

 **So, what did you think? Please let me know how you are feeling about this. You know comments and reviews are always welcome. They are the highlight of my days so don't be afraid to comment or ask questions. I will be trying to catch up my PM's tomorrow so if you haven't heard from me, you should soon. Again I want to thank you guys so much for making these two books such a success. Until next time!**


	25. Chapter 25

**Hello, Hello my wonderful people. I have another chapter for your guys. I tried to get it out earlier today but it ended up being longer than I thought and it took a lot of debating to whether I should break it up. In the end I decided not to and just took a little off the end to start out the next chapter.**

 **Now I have to warn this chapter gets very deep and want to say it is not for the faint hearted so this is your warning. Enjoy!**

This story is **rated M/MA** for Lemons, language and **situations**. Not appropriate for younger readers!

Disclaimer: All divergent characters belong to Veronica Roth, all original characters are mine. V.R. characters look like those in the movie. Hope you all enjoy, reviews and thoughts are welcome.

* * *

 **Chapter 25**

 _(Saturday, December 12th)_

 _I heard him. It was him_. Opening my eyes, I can't see anything, it's dark again. I think she left, but I not sure. My head is hurting, that stupid bitch. We heard Eric calling my name. I tried to yell back but she hit me over the head with the handle of the knife. I can't even feel to see if my head is bleeding because I still can barely move my hands.

 _Eric._

He was close. His voice sounded far away but he was close enough for me to hear him. We must still be near the camp. I wasn't sure how far Lynn and brought me, or even where she had brought me. I screamed earlier but she acted like she wasn't scared that someone would hear me. I figured we were pretty far away from camp. I had listened to her babble on for at least an hour before I heard Eric calling me.

For a few seconds, I thought I was just hearing things until I saw the look on her face. I barely got out a sound out before her hand was on my mouth. I did everything I could to get away from her but with my hands tied behind my back, it doesn't leave too many options. After struggling for a minute, I was able to move around enough to bite her hand and tried to yell again but then she hit me with the knife.

I have no idea how long I have been out or even if she is still around. I don't know if I should try yelling for Eric or just stay quite. Lynn was pretty pissed when she hit me. I am sure it had something to do with the bloody hand. I can still taste the damn blood in my mouth. _God, I really hope she doesn't have any diseases._

She was also getting impatient before we had heard Eric. I just don't know how many ways I can tell her that I don't do anything special to keep Eric's attention. I don't have to do anything, he just generally likes to be with me. Not that I understand why. I keep waiting for the day he loses interest in me because there really isn't anything special about me. I am just, me.

Some how, her questions and comments just seemed to reflected my thoughts. She made it clear she doesn't see anything special about me but she kept insisting there had to be something that I was hiding away from everyone. She really is just psycho, there is no other explanation.

I have to do something, I need to get out of here. "ERIC! ERIC!"

I hear a noise outside the door. My heart starting beating so loud, I wonder if who ever it is can hear it. _Please be you Eric, Please!_ I can't help it but I am frozen. I see a small light from under the door. I want to call out but I am afraid it isn't him. My gut is that it is her, if it was Eric he would have come tearing the door off to rescue me the minute he heard my voice.

Continuing to stare at the light under the door is making me more and more nervous. A minute later it finally opens and my stomach falls to the ground. My fear has come true. Lynn comes walking in and she doesn't look happy.

"Yell all you want sweetie pie because they are gone and there is no one left to hear you. They all went back to camp. I have to admit, I am surprised they didn't try harder. Seriously, it takes them hours to even come look for you and then it is just a quick check of trails and they head back to camp. Maybe you don't mean as much to him as I thought." Turning around, she walks back out the door, leaving the door open but I can no longer see her.

Right now I want nothing more that to hit this bitch in the face. Her stance and the look that was on her face shows our little time together is drawing to a close. I can only wonder what she plans to do with me. She really has no reason to keep me alive. My chances of her just letting me go are pretty slim.

I pull at the ropes binding my hands together. It looks like I am going to have to rescue myself this time. The ropes are tight and they bite into my hands more and more as I try to get out of them. They're not budging.

Then I hear a voice. _Is she talking to herself?_ I strain to listen closer. There are two voices. _What the hell? She's not alone._ I try even harder to listen, the other voice sounds familiar, a male's voice but I just can't place it.

"Lynn we need to end this. How long do you really think it is going to take them to figure out where we are?"

"Well if you were doing your part, that wouldn't have been so close. You were suppose to warn me when they were coming this way and she hasn't gave me the information I need yet."

"They run too fast. There was no way for me to get there before they did without being caught. Besides this is far enough off the trail that they would never see it in the dark, it's meant to blend in. What information are you trying to get from her exactly and why don't you want to tell me? Is it about him because you told me you were over him?"

"It's not about him baby, I promise. You are the only man I need in my life." She purrs at the guy and it makes me sick. "I just need some answers and right now I need to go check out the camp for a minute. I need to make sure everyone is still there and not out looking for her. Stay here, keep a look out and don't go in there!"

"Of course. Why would I want to go in there?"

"Just stay out here. I don't need her filling your head with lies too." She screeches and I can hear her stomp off. It's quiet for a moment and I'm totally confused. Why would anyone help her? What the hell did I do to deserve this? Maybe he will help me. Probably not, I am sure that manipulative bitch has him wrapped around her little finger.

I am startled when I hear footsteps start heading for me. _Shit!_ A figure appears in the doorway and my mouth drops open. I am speechless.

 _'Who is this fine little thing you got here.'_

His words from the first time I met him float through my head. I can't believe he is here. That he is the one here helping her. How could he?

"Hmmm. The big bad boyfriend isn't here to protect his little princess." He moves closer and squats down in front of me. The look in his eyes are making all my nerves stand on end. "Didn't Lynn tell you to stay out of here?"

"You dumb little bitch. You were listening weren't you." His voice is low and almost curious. He runs his fingers down my cheek before ruffly grabbing my chin. "You know he doesn't love you right. Eric has been with almost every girl in this town, and most who have ever visited. Every time a new girl comes around, Eric has to put his grubby little hands on her. Kind of selfish don't you think?" I stay quiet trying to ignore his little digs at Eric.

"Even you. Of course he would snatch up a pretty little thing like you and keep you for himself. Although I am surprised he has kept you around for so long. Other than Lynn, I have never seen him stay interested in someone for any length of time.

I try to ignore the heaviness that is beginning to pull at my chest as his eyes roam up and down my body with a far away look in his eyes. "Shouldn't you be waiting outside for Lynn?" I am betrayed as my voice comes out much weaker than I intended. I have seen that look before and nothing good came of it.

"Oh, don't you worry about me. I can handle Lynn, but you. I have had an eye for you since the first day I met you, but no, Eric had to get his dirty paws on you first." He finally releases my chin and runs his hand down my arm. I try to jerk away but he ignores me and continues. Whatever I am tied to isn't allowing me to move very far.

"And you sure fooled everyone, didn't you?" My eyes fly up to his at his accusing tone. I have no idea what he is talking about. "Oh, don't look at me with those innocent eyes. Word has gotten around about you. You acted so sweet and innocent, but your not, are you?" His hand grazes my stomach and I am beginning to have a hard time breathing. _This shit is not happening again!_

"I...I don't know...what you are talking about." I stutter out. He grabs my arms hard and gives me a strong shake. "Oh come on, fucking your boyfriend in the classroom in broad daylight while Lynn watched from the next room. At the party a few weeks ago in the bedroom upstairs while everyone else is downstairs drinking." He lets out an exaggerated chuckle. "You even gave him head in the bathroom at the restaurant. Now that one surprised me me the most. You really didn't seem like that kind of girl." _What the fuck?_

"How does Eric always manage to find the kinky ones?" He says quietly, still looking at me with lustful eyes. I so bad want to cry right now. I know what he is thinking and I have no way out of this. For the first time, I am hoping Lynn will actually come back. I don't understand; he was so nice to me the few times I seen him. I never for a minute thought he was like this. Eric didn't seem to like him being near me but I chalked it up to him being jealous. Then again, women can make men do crazy things too. I am sure that he and Lynn have something going on and my money is on Lynn is just using him. Otherwise she wouldn't be so worried about getting the information about Eric.

Suddenly he grabs both of my legs, pulling them straight out and then straddles them. _Fuck!_ "Now you are going to be a good little girl and let me have a sample of what Eric gets every night." I try to move but it only makes him tighten his legs around mine and my chest tighten even more.

"Fucking get off me." I yell at him hoping Lynn will hear me. He slaps me hard across the face causing me to fall to the side slightly before he grabs my face with both his hands. "You fucking yell again and I won't wait for Lynn to kill you, I will kill you myself."

He kisses me with bruising force and I try to struggle to get away again. "That's right baby, fight, it's funner that way." He begins to kiss down my neck and a tear falls down my face. I can't believe this is actually happening. I must have the worst luck in the world. "Ahh..." I cry out as he bites down on my shoulder. "Oh yeah baby, let me hear you." He growls and more tears stream down my cheek.

"Please, please, don't do this." I beg because that is all I have left to do. "Come on baby, you will enjoy this, I promise." I cry out again as he grabs at my breast roughly sending pain through them. "Being with Eric, you must like it rough. I know about him, heard the stories of what he has done to women straight from his own mouth. He always like to brag about the things he had done." He tells in between sharp bite that he is spreading across my shoulders.

"Don't! Stop please! Please don't do this to me!"

"Shh shh. You'll probably enjoy this if you just relax." Pulling my legs forward more, I am forced to lean back more toward whatever my hands are tied to behind me. He unbuttons my pants and I know not this is going to happen no matter what I do. The lack of oxygen coming out of lungs is threatening to make me pass out. That might be the best thing. I don't think I want to remember this.

This is it. The thing that turns Eric away from me. The thing that repulses him so much that he never wants to touch me or even look at me again.

* * *

"Why is she laying down." Lynn ask. I can't see them but they must be right outside. "She was trying to escape. I hit her once or twice to get her to knock it off. Can we just kill her, or leave her, or what ever we are going to do. I am tired of this game."

"We can't leave just yet. The police are at the camp." She says a little panicked. _What the hell did she think was going to happen?_ I hear her walking toward me and I curl up as small as I can. I can't bring myself to open my eyes and the tears are still running down my cheeks.

"I guess we can't leave her alive." She kicks me in my stomach. "What's the matter, not going to beg for your life?" She ask with a laugh.

"No." I manage to get out in a small, weak voice. Right now I don't care if I die or not. "Ohh, where is the strong, defiant little princess that managed to steal Eric's heart. Giving up so easy?" I stay quite because right now I'm willing to curl up and die.

"Wow, all it took was a man to smack you around a little and you turn right back into that sad, scared little girl that first came to camp. You are so pathetic." She kicks my at my leg. She lets out a huff. "Why are you giving in so easy? This isn't like you." She turns quickly and goes to the door.

"What did you do?" She says louder. "Nothing, I slapped her a few times. She is just a pathetic little girl. I have no idea what Eric sees in her."

"So you didn't do anything other than that?" _She knows._ She walks back outside the door to him.

"No! Now I told you, get rid of her and let get out of here." He growls. "You liar!"

"Ow, what the fuck you dumb bitch, that hurt. You fucking made me bleed!" He screams at her. My eyes fly open to see him holding his arm. She still has the knife in her hand. "What I'm not enough for you, you needed to turn around and fuck around with her too? What the hell is it about her that everyone just falls over. Just leave you nasty ass bastard!"

"Fine, you fucking psycho bitch. Do this shit yourself!" He turns and walks way from her. She looks after him shaking her head. "Wait, wait, you can't leave me!" She whines. "Please, look I'm sorry I cut you. I won't do it again. Please!" Her pleading is sickening.

"Fuck you!" He shouts no longer in my view.

"Fine I don't need you anyway and just for the record, your a lame fuck. Eric was a hundred times better than you."

"Whatever psycho!" I barely hear him.

"Dammitt!" She screams as she comes back into the shack. "See what you did you little hoe! Always messing up all my plans." My silence is rewarded with another kick to the stomach. I can't help but groan at the pain as my eyes screw shut. "You stupid bitch, think you can outsmart me. What did you say to him?" She shouts kicking me once more.

"Nothing, I swear." I choke out.

"Lies, lies, lies. That is all that ever comes out of your mouth whore." I feel cold metal on my side where my shirt has risen up. I open one of my eyes to see her eyeing my stomach. "Hmmm, maybe I need to give you another scar to match this one." She runs her knife over to the other side of my stomach and presses it in slowly so just the tip pierces my skin.

"AHHHHH!" I scream as the blade pierces my skin.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did that hurt." That laugh sends the most chilling vibe down my back. She really has lost it. I'm dead, she is going to kill me this time. She moves the knife up to my cheek. "Maybe I should mark up your face a little while I'm at it. No open casket for you."

Something catches her eye. She stares at my shoulder and reaches down, pulling my shirt off my shoulder. "Looks like nothing has changed. Eric still likes it rough does he." There is longing in her voice. It makes me sick and what's worse is that they aren't even from him. The overwhelming emotions cause a new set of tears pour out of my eyes.

"Great, here we go again with the poor little me act." She pushes at my face in discuss. "Whatever, lets get this over with. How do you wish for this to end? I can either slit your throat or pierce your heart. You choose." This is it, she is going to kill me.

"Lynn you..." She places the knife over my lips, cutting off my words. "Don't bother pleading with me. It isn't going to work. The only way I get out of this is for you to die, but don't worry." A creepy smile spreads across her face. "I will make sure Eric is well taken care of. He will..."

She stops as we hear something outside. Her lips turn up in a smile. "I knew you would come back, I'm irresistible. Well your out of time little girl, I guess it will be your throat."

Everything seems to slow down for a moment. A shadow comes through the door before I can focus on who it is. The figure pulls Lynn backward by her shirt, quickly landing one punch to her face and she's out. My eyes finally focus on the figure looking down at me.

 _Eric!_

Two other figures appear in the door way.

 _Jeff and Paulo!_

I bury my face in my chest and the floor. As happy as I am to see them, I can't look at them. Especially not Eric. I feel hands on me and I shriek back from the touch. "Don't!" I shout.

"Babe, it's just me. Your okay." Tears rack my body. It's over, they found me. He tries to grab me again. "Don't touch me!" Curling up my body as small as I can, I try to hide my face. I don't want anyone to look at me. He can't, not now. He will never love me again. I am sure of it. "Baby, I'm sorry. I had to hit her, but I would never do that to you. I swear, your safe now." _That isn't it._

"Hey." Jeff whispers softly. I feel him stroke my head. "I'm going to untie you okay?" I nod my head but keep my eyes shut as tight as possible. "Geez." He mumbles as I feel him tug on my raw wrist. An involuntary whimper escaped my mouth. "Sorry." There is a heavy sigh next to me. He will try to hold me as soon as I am free. I can't let him touch me.

"Hold on Dani, I almost have it." My whole body tenses up as I try to hold in another whimper.

"There, there..." He says quietly and as soon as I am free I scramble up into Jeff's chest. Jeff freezes only allowing one hand to touch my head. "Your okay." He whispers.

"Baby..." Eric says again but I only curl into Jeff even more as I cry uncontrollably. "Jeff." Eric's concerned voices says quietly beside me. "Jesus, Dani your bleeding. Let me see." Jeff says pulling my shirt up to expose my stomach.

"Please Jeff, just get me out of here." I beg pulling my shirt back down. "But Dani..."

"Please!" I plead with him. Grabbing his shirt I pull him closer. "Okay, Okay." He shifts carefully sliding his arms under my legs and under my arms. I feel momentarily weightless as he picks me up.

I see Eric's face out of the corner of my eye. So many emotions are plastered on his face, hurt, defeat, sadness, anger. His eyes are stuck to the floor as he must no longer be able to stand the site of me. Jeff shifts me a little and I bury my face into his neck.

"Eric... Eric." Paulo beckons.

I feel something pull at the top of my shirt. "Don't, DON'T!" I shouts trying to pull away and it knocks Jeff back a few steps. "Calm down Dani. Please." Jeff begs and I freeze now that the tugging has stopped.

"What the fuck happened to you?" Eric's voice breaks at the last word. Again I can't say anything, but the tightening in my chest begins to build. _The bite marks._ "What did she do to you Danielle? For god sakes please fucking talk to me, look at me, something!" I flinch as his tone gets louder.

"Paulo." Jeff says quickly as my grip around his neck tightens.

"Eric man. Lets take a walk."

"No, dammitt. I need to know what the hell happened!" He shouts causing me to flinch again.

"Eric." Paulo powerful voice fills the small space. "Your scaring her more." He whispers to Eric. I hear a heavy huff beside me, followed by shuffling which I can only guess is both of them vacating the room.

After a moment I loosen my grip around Jeff and relax just slightly. "Dani, can you tell me what happened here?" Jeff's quiet voice fills in my ear. I shake my head. "Not yet."

"How bad could she have been?"

"Not her."

"What do you mean, not her?" I shake my head. "You know you can tell me anything right?"

"Jeff..." More tears. "Not here please. I just want to get out of here." I feel myself rise and fall as he lets out a sigh.

"Okay. Lets go." I feel his lips against my hair for a moment as he begins to walk. He will always be my rock. The one who is always there for me, no matter how fucked up I am, no matter how damaged I am.

Jeff walks outside with me in his arms. "Danielle?" Eric whispers from beside me but thankfully doesn't try to touch me. "Lets just get her back to the camp." Jeff says sensing my unwillingness to communicate with him.

"You got her?" He ask Jeff in defeat and Jeff nods his head. "Paulo can you get... that." Eric says with disgust. "Yeah man. I will get that trash."

Our walk back to the camp was fairly silent other then the quick call Eric made to Max. I had to concentrate hard to stay as still as possible. My whole body hurt and each time time Jeff tossed me up a little to get a better grip on me, I had to suppress the agony of sharp pains that jolted through me.

My mind is running rampant as well. _How do I explain what happened? Can I explain it? How do I go on from here?_ I don't know what I am going to do when I lose Eric. He has become my whole world. The silence and tension rolling off him has been so intense the entire walk back. I think even Paulo knows something is off.

We reach the edge of the field and a sense of slight relief comes flooding over me. I made it back. By some miracle, I manage to make it back and mostly in one piece. Then again, I don't know if it really is a good thing or bad thing.

"How did you guys find me?" I ask quietly; finally finding a small voice within me. "Eric got upset with the cops questions and came outside. Paulo, Uriah and I followed. We were standing outside and Uriah said something about rain coming and not having to clean up. Eric swore under his breath and just took off. Paulo and I followed after him. We went to the first maintenance shack that was on the closer trail. When we didn't find you there, we went to the other one."

"Dani, what did she me when she said 'I knew you would come back'?" Eric's quiet and careful voice interrupts Jeff. "There was no way she was expecting me." He's putting it together. Must be why he has been so quiet. I shake my head. _Not now._

"Dani, can I let you down?"

"I'll take her." Eric says quickly. "No! I um...can walk."

"Your hurt, just let me carry you. I promise I won't hurt you." He sounds so desperate to do it but I don't think I could handle being in his arms right now.

"No, it's okay, I'll walk." Jeff's arms are shaking. He is not as strong as Eric and he just carried me for at least a mile. He must be exhausted. He lets me down slowly, keeping his arms around my arms to steady me. I hurt but I can walk, sort of. I keep some of my weight on Jeff as we walk the rest of the way to the clinic.

I keep a hold on my stomach where she cut me. When he put me down, I felt the wound reopen and I don't want them to see it bleeding again or they won't let me walk. I need to be strong because it is going to take all my strength to deal with what is about to happen.

The cops are standing outside the clinic as we walk up. "You found her." One of them says. "Yeah, no thanks to you." Eric growls at him.

"Who is that?" He ask ignoring Eric's stare.

"That is who kidnapped her."

"What happened to her?"

"I had to knock her out before she slit Dani's throat."

"Was that really necessary?"

"And what do you suggest I should have done?" Eric's frustration is giving away to anger.

"Come on." He says after a moment turning to Paulo, effectively breaking off his and Eric's argument. "Put her in the back of my car and then I need someone to show me where you found her. Kerry, call this in and get some more units out here to process the scene. Then you can take her statement."

"Yes sir." The other officer says with a nod.

"I want Dani inside now. Before you question her, I want her looked at." Max says stepping in to take back control as I begin to sag more into Jeff side. He grabs me and pulls me inside while Eric follows. Jeff carefully helps me to the bed and Marlene takes over, barking out orders. She pushes me back on the bed and begins looking at the cut on my stomach since it is the most obvious wound.

"This is going to need stitches." She tells me and I give her a nod, I figured that much. She starts to pull up my shirt and I immediately pull it down and pull away from her, looking to everyone in the room. She gives me an irritated look as her eyebrows stitch together.

"Alright, everyone out." She shoos them away until only her and Eric remain but Eric has stayed back in the corner with his eyes glued to the floor. He makes no move to leave and Marlene doesn't seem to think I want him gone because she comes back over to me and attempts to inspect me again. I don't let her and she gives me a curious look until I look at Eric.

She seems to understand. "Eric, can you leave us for a minute?" His eyes fly up to me and I look down in shame.

"Give me a minute with her first." He demands. "Eric, I really need to look over her."

"Just give us a minute!" He almost shouts. I close my eyes tight. _Please don't Marlene._ But my silent plead goes unheard and she reluctantly leaves closing the door behind her.

"Who was it?" He ask quietly still rooted in the corner. I finally look at him in horror. He figured it out. "How?"

"You won't let me touch you, have have bite marks on you, she was expecting someone else, not me, which means there was someone else there. Was it a man?" Looking back down, I try to hold in the threatening tears. "So it was a man." Sometimes I hate that he can read me so easy. He moves and comes to sit on the edge of the bed, but doesn't look at me. "He's the one that left those marks?" There is no point in denying it so I nod my head.

"What else did he do?" His tone surprises me. He almost sounds choked up. "Dani, I need to know. Did he..." He doesn't finish his sentence and tear spill over as the ache in my heart grows more painful. He hands ball into a fist. "What did he look like? Did you hear his name?" I look up hardly hearing his words as he has turned toward the wall and is barely audible.

I shut my eyes as the tears stream out. _He knows._ I didn't even have to say it and he knows. Who cares who did it, it doesn't matter anymore.

The bed jolts suddenly and pain shoots through my arms as Eric grabs me. "Dammit fucking talk to me." My eyes fly open as he shouts at me. Anger, pure anger floods through his eyes and I freeze in fear. Actual fear spreads through me. I open my mouth but nothing comes out. "Who dammitt, fucking tell me!" He screams in my face.

"Sean" I cry out as he grips me harder. He freezes and Marlene throws the door open. "Eric!" She yells at him.

"Sean? You mean the Sean I know?" There is so much disbelieve on his face. I nod but I don't think he believes me.

"Eric, your minute is up now leave and let me do my job!" She orders.

His eye are glazed over. "He's fucking dead." He seethes before getting up and heading for the door.

He pauses in the doorway and his eyes find mine. "This is _NOT_ your fault!" He says before storming out, closing the door with a slam and I finally break down. Marlene come to try to comfort me but I shake her off. "Give me a minutes, please just give me one... fucking... minute..." I yell at her.

The man of my dreams just left. Left me. I was so stupid thinking it would ever last.

* * *

I feel much better for the most part. Marlene gave me a shot of something and now I almost feel disconnected. Here, but not here. After I calmed down, she checked over me and determined there was very little real damage other than the stab wound. Although her face contorted several times as she looked at the bite marks and the many bruises.

She numbed up the area around my stab wound and used several stitches to close it up. She said I was pretty lucky nothing was injured too bad. Little does she know the real damage.

The cops have wanted to come and talk to me but Max insisted Marlene finish first. She refused to let anyone else as well. I was glad. I didn't want anyone else to see the marks all over me. It would be too obvious and I am so exhausted. I just want to sleep.

"Okay Dani, I can't hold them off any longer. You are going to have to tell the officer what happened." I give her an understanding nod. She gets up and calls for Max. He comes to the door and she steps out a little.

"I had to give her something to calm her down after her and Eric talked. I don't know what he said to her but she was hysterical. That cop needs to tread lightly." He nods at her. _Hello, I can still hear you people!_

"I don't understand everything yet but Eric took off before I could stop him. I sent Paulo after him and Will is tracking him. Help them out and I will take over here."

"I had to stitch up the wound in her stomach and she likely has s concussion. There are several large bumps on her head so she needs to stayed reclined and relax as much as possible." He gives her another nod and she walks away.

"Jeff?" He walks over and joins Max just outside the door. "I need you to help keep her calm." Do the really think I can't here them?"Yeah, okay." He says confused and comes into the room with a weak smile on his face.

He takes his shoes off and lifts up my head as he crawls into the top of the bed, placing a pillow in his lap. I gratefully lay back and he starts running his hand through my hair. This feels like Deja vu, yet so normal.

Max walks out of site and I see several people out in the other room just standing around. Harrison's worried eyes find mine but he stays completely still, leaning up again the wall. "You okay to do this?" Jeff ask quietly. I take a deep breath. I feel so odd right now. "Yeah. Just please don't leave me." He kisses my hair. "I will be right here for you."

Max re-enters the room with one of the cops. He looks oddly at Jeff before taking a seat in the chair next to me. Max closed the door and goes to stand in the corner of the room that Eric had vacated a little while ago.

"Hi Dani. My name is officer Kerry. I know this must be difficult but I need you to tell me what happened. Can you do that for me?"

I take a deep breath and look up at him ."I had went out for an evening run in the back field. Everything was fine for the first couple of laps and then I was hit by something." I continued to explain waking up in the shack and all of Lynn's questioning. How she just seemed to get more and more angry. Then how we head Eric and scuffled around before she knocked me out again.

"Shit, he did hear you." Jeff mumbles and we all turn to him. He explains how Eric heard something when they were out looking for me.

"What happened when you woke up again?" Officer Kerry ask after writing down some notes.

This was the part I was wanting to avoid. But I can't be that weak little girl. If I do then he will get way with it. Free to do it again. I have to be brave.

With a heavy sigh, I sit up pulling my legs up to my chest and wrap my arms around them tightly. Jeff tries to rub my shoulder but I move my shoulder away from his hand. "Please don't touch me." I whisper as I look down to the floor and lay my head on my knees. I feel him lean away from me.

"When I woke up it was dark. I didn't know what to do so I called out for Eric. Lynn came back in telling me it was useless before leaving out the door but she left it open this time. After a minute I heard her talking to someone. I recognized his voice but I couldn't think of who. She blamed him for not warning her the guys were out looking for me. He was suppose to be her look out at the camp."

"You said he. So was it a male? Did you figure out who it was?"

"Not until she left to come check on the camp. When she left he came in and instantly recognized him. I had first met him having lunch with Paulo and Eric at the Cottage this summer. His name was Sean. I saw him again a few weeks ago at Casey's party. Him and Eddie had shown up. We were drinking and talking. Nothing out of the ordinary. Sean had helped me down off the counter and Eric got upset but I figured he was just being jealous."

"Sean and Eddie. Your talking about Sean Foster?"

"I don't know his last name." I admit.

"That's okay. Please continue."

"When he came in he knew who I was. He admitted he had liked me since we met. He began touching my face and arms. I saw the change in his face. I asked, I begged him not to do it, but he just slapped me for it." _Calm down._ I try to slow my breathing as my tears fall onto my knee.

"Dani, um, I need you to tell me, did he hurt you?"

Without hardly moving I pull down the sleeve of my shirt to expose my neck and shoulder. He stands up and goes to touch me. "Don't touch her!" Jeff growls making him jump back.

"Jeff" Max warns. "Sorry officer. She has a thing about being touched. It is in your best interest not to touch her." He is silent for a moment and my eyes are still stuck on the small mark on the floor that stuck out.

"Are those bite marks?" He ask softly and I nod releasing my shirt. I hear him exhale loudly.

"Are their more?" I nod yes again. "He told me that I was a bitch and he was going to treat me like one." I whisper through my tears.

"What else did he do?"

My chest hurts, all the crying and the pain today is just so much to handle.

"Dani. I need you to continue. I need to know... to know if... he..."

"If he what? Can't you even say it? You want to know if he molested me, if he raped me. You can't even say the words yet you want me to re-live it." I say disconnected from myself, still unmoved, like it isn't even me talking.

"The answer is yes." I say defeated after a balloon of silence had filled the room. "The asshole held me down and put his grubby fingers in me while he hit and squeezed at me with bruising force. That was until he was excited enough and pull my pants off so he could fucked me while I begged and screamed for him to stop." It hurts just as much to say it out loud as it does thinking it.

"I prayed over and over that it would end, or that some one would find me, or even that I would just die so that my nightmare would end." Sobs rack through my body and I squeeze my legs as tight as I can, rocking my self back and forth trying to control them.

"I think she has had enough for now." Max steps in again.

"No." I tell him through my cries. "Dani just take a break for a minute." He says softly like I will break any second and the thing is, I feel like I just might.

"I just want to be finished with this. Besides, there isn't much else to tell. " He steps back into the corner. I reign in my cries and continue. "When he finished, he re-dressed me and left me crying on the floor. He waited outside until Lynn got back. She suspected he had done something and they argued causing him to take off. Then Lynn came in and said she was going to kill me, she was about to cut my throat when Eric showed up and knocked her out before she had a chance to." My sobs intensify again as my body starts shaking from exhaustion.

"Officer!" Max barks.

"Okay, okay. I, uh, think I have what I need for now. We will let you know if we need anything else." He gets up quickly and leaves, followed closely by Max.

Jeff pats the pillow behind me. I gladly lay down on the pillow, curling into myself. Jeff fingers find my hair and I feel myself relax as I cry myself to sleep. Just like I use to do almost ten years ago.

* * *

 **So did you see that coming? I hope you all liked the chapter. As always, I appreciated the support of all of you and I am so happy and proud that this story has turned into such a success. Please let me know what you thing, comments and reviews always welcome. Just a warning this book is coming to a close but as long as you all want it to continue, there will be a third book on its way. Until next time!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Hey Everyone. I really want to thank all of you for reading this story. I got a tremendous outpouring from the last chapter and I am so happy that I am able to bring this story to life for all of you. Also, a big thanks to my guest reviewers as well since I cannot write you guys back personally. I love being able to read how you all are affect and feel after reading my chapters. They are a high point of my day.**

 **Thank you all so much for making this book a success and putting up with my crazy time line. I know it has changed so much from the first book but you are all awesome sports about it. Now, on to more of Dani and Eric.**

This story is rated M/MA for Lemons, language and situations. Not appropriate for younger readers!

Disclaimer: All divergent characters belong to Veronica Roth, all original characters are mine. V.R. characters look like those in the movie. Hope you all enjoy, reviews and thoughts are welcome.

* * *

 **Chapter 26**

 _(Sunday, December 13th)_

I am jolted awake by my dream.

"It's okay. Your safe." Eric says quietly and I am confused by how he said it.

Jeff is gone and it is only us in the room. I wipe away the wetness from my face. I must have been crying in my sleep. Whatever or however horrible my dream was, I know longer remember what it was about, but I have that lingering dreaded feeling like it was something bad. It's dark and I can only see the outline of Eric's shadow, but it is enough to see his face is buried in his hands.

"It's my fault." He says roughly. "What is?" I ask confused.

"I was suppose to protect you. I promised to protect you and I failed."

"Eric..." I try to stop him but he doesn't let me finish.

"You were dreaming. You called out for me to save you. You pleaded for me to help you. Prayers that were never answered. I got there too late to save you from him."

"Eric..."

"Don't!" He almost shouts making me jump. He is quiet for a moment before continuing in a lower tone. "You don't have to explain anything. I heard your statement, the camera in the room was on. It was probably better I didn't see it until I got back." He lets out a deranged chuckle. He sounds off, like seriously off. I reach over and turn on the table lamp to see a gut wrenching site.

"Oh my fucking god, Eric. What the he'll did you do?" My voice is barley a whisper as horror fills my body.

He has blood all over him. His face is all bruised and nicked up, but there is no way all the blood is from him. I sit up trying to grab his face but he he pushes my hands away. "Don't, I deserved it. What I don't deserve, is you." He chokes out.

He gets up and leaves quickly. _What the he'll just happened?_ I don't get much time to think about it because I suddenly see police lights outside the window. I kneel up on the bed to see what is going on. Two policemen get out of the car just in time to stop Eric who was walking out. _Oh no! What did he do?_

I jump out of the bed and run right pass Marlene who is sitting at her desk. I ignore her shouts for me and run around the building to the front of camp. I have a terrible feeling about this.

I reach the front as Max is exiting his office and I slow down to a fast walk as I see him. One of the police officers has Eric up against the car and is searching him. "What's going on?" I almost shout as I rush toward them.

The other officer steps in front of me. "Miss, you have to..." I push him to the side and go around him but he catches me by my arm. I hear both Eric and Max shout in unison. "Don't touch her!" But it's too late, I hit him square in the jaw as he swings me back around by my arm. He falls to the ground but before I can get any further, strong arms appear from behind me wrapping under my arms and back around behind my head pinning me to whoever has a hold on me. I try kick out as the heavy feeling in my chest quickly sets in, but it is no use, I can't move. I start shaking and my breaths begin to shorten.

 _Let go, please let go!_ I can't even speak the words out loud. _Stop, stop, stooooopppp..._

"Dani! Danielle look at me!" I try to breath and stop struggling as I feel Eric's hands on my face pulling it up to look at him. "I need you to calm down." I try to comprehend what he has just said but it is hard to focus as I feel myself hyperventilating. "Let her go Max." The strong hold releases and I fall to my knees as I try to breath.

"Just breath in and out. Come on count, focus on breathing slowly." He coaxes, never removing his gaze from mine. I listen to his voice as he counts my breathing. "...in two, three, four. Out two, three, four." Max is talking quickly in the background, something about a 'horrible trauma today' but it sounds so far away. I just try to focus on Eric's voice.

As I start to gain control of myself, Paulo and Jeff appear, one on each side of me. My attention turns back to Eric when he goes quiet. "You need to stay calm now and just let what happens, happen." I give him a confused look and we both stand up. Eric looks to my left nodding his head and I feel a familiar hand grab my arm.

Eric gives me one last lingering look before he turns and walks away but the empty space is immediately taken by Max. "If you can't stand here and be quite, I will have the guys take you inside." I nod in agreement and let out a deep breath. He turns and walks toward the car where the officer resumes searching Eric. The other officer is standing between us, rubbing his jaw.

I feel like I should say something to him even though I am still half distracted by what is going on over by the cop car. "Um, sorry about that. I kind of have a thing..." He cuts me off. "With being touched. I get it now. I understand you have had a difficult day but if you hit me again, you will be going to jail as well." The smug look on his face is tempting me to let him meet my fist again but then I full process what he just said.

"What do you mean, _as well_?"

He raises an eyebrow at me. "You had to know that we were going to have to take him in after what your boyfriend over there did."

"What exactly did he do?" I am getting more and more impatient with this guy.

"He almost beat a man to death a few hours ago." My hands fly up to my mouth. "Who?" The question is out of my mouth even though I know exactly who he is talking about. "Never mined don't say his name." I whisper. "Just, please tell me what happened." I look over to Eric who is now leaning up against the cop car talking calmly to the other officer.

"From what we have been able to gather from witnesses, Eric found Sean at the Old Number Three Bar in the next town over." Hearing his name sends shivers down my spine. The cop ignores me and continues. "They had a heated argument and Sean pushed him, at which time Eric proceeded to beat him within an inch of his life. Several of Sean's friends pull Eric off of him and they began fighting with him as well. Eric was able to inflict a lot of damage before the fight was stopped by the owner and several of Eric's friends who removed him from the bar. Sean was taken to the hospital in Ellensberg and they are not sure he is going to make it. Several of the other guys also have sustained sever injuries."

"But you just said that he pushed Eric first. That is self defense."

"Well technically that is true. However, if Sean dies from the injuries that Eric inflicted, he could be facing manslaughter charges. Taking into account there is reason to believe Eric went looking for Sean because of what happened to you, the charges could in fact be much more severe. "

 _Oh my god!_ This is not happening. A small tear runs down my cheek as I see Eric being handcuffed. _This is all my fault._

"Please don't do this, this is my fault, not his, please!" I shout to the officer handcuffing Eric.

"Danielle, stop!" Eric says to me frustrated. "Just fucking stop blaming all this shit on yourself." _What how can I not?_

His eyes are so sad and it tears at me. I can only stare as the cop puts Eric in the back of the car. Jeff puts his arm around my shoulder to steady me. I feel a strong need to cry as the other cop gets into the car and they drive away from me, but so many tears have left my body in the last day, I don't think I can. The need is still there though and without it, I feel wrong, I feel broken.

The only thing worse than him leaving me, is someone taking him away from me and it's all because of my own stupid carelessness. I may never feel his arms around me again. I shrug off Jeff's arm from my shoulder, it doesn't feel right. I don't want him, or anyone touching me. I stand still and quiet, feeling all alone.

 _I don't feel right. What do I do now? I don't know what to do. He is gone again, but it maybe forever this time. I am lost._

People around me are talking but their voices are just a hum in the background.

 _This should have went different, if I would have just let him touch me or hold me, maybe he would have stayed instead of taking off upset. Again, all my fault. He said not to blame myself but I am the one who did everything wrong. I should have been more aware of my surroundings, I would have fought harder, and most important, I should have let him be there for me because he my never be there again._

I can't take my eyes off the darkness of the driveway where the tail lights of the cop car have long ago disappeared.

 _The blackness represents everything in my life, dark, sad, and alone._

I feel a sharp prick in my neck, but I don't move. Time seems to go on forever. My eyes start to feel heavy but I still can't move. A final tear squeezes its way out of my dried tear duct as I succumb to the darkness.

* * *

I wake up dazed to soft voices talking in the next room. I feel an odd mixture of being completely refreshed but extremely sore all over my body. Flashes of yesterdays, and this morning's events flood into my mind. For a moment, I almost thought it was all a dream but I can't be that lucky. It happened, all of it.

 _Christ, Eric is in jail!_

I sit up but quickly stop when I realize I am attached to an IV.

"Hey, your awake." Marlene says as she comes into the room. "Why do I have an IV?"

"It's just a precaution. With you sleeping most of the morning and afternoon, you needed some fluids in you." I look out the window.

"How long have I been sleeping?" It must have been a long time by the way I feel.

"It's almost four in the afternoon."

"What about Eric? I need to know what is going on?" I say in a rush realizing how much time I have wasted.

"It's okay. Christian is here and he wants to talk to you. I am sure..."

"I don't want to talk about it, not yet, please tell him I am not ready." My voice gets more panicked.

"Now would I ever make you talk about something you don't want to?" Christian says from the doorway. I look down at my hands that are tangling themselves together. "Yes!" He lets out a chuckle.

"What if I promise not to make you talk about it until you ready?" I look up at him. "Fine." There is no use arguing with him. He comes in and sits down in the chair next to the bed as Marlene leaves, shutting the door behind her. I take a deep breath trying to prepare myself for this conversation.

"Well first I am sure you want to know about Eric. Should we start there?" He ask and my heart leaps at the fact he has information about Eric. "Yes, please." His lips turn up slightly.

"I called the hospital a short while ago. Thankfully I am a doctor and was able to sweet talk the nurse that answered. She told me that Sean is doing better but he is not out of the woods yet. The swelling in his brain has stopped luckily, so if he can hold on through tonight, he should be out of the woods."

"And what does that mean for Eric?"

"I was able to relay the information to the police." He pauses for a moment. "And?"

"If Sean is downgraded they are willing to release Eric on bail pending any charges he may face." I let out a heavy sigh of relief. Even a little good new is good to hear right now.

"Max has offered to put up the bail to get him out in the morning, but Dani I really think the three of us should sit down and talk. I had hoped to get to visit with you more but it seems that fate has other plans. You have a lot of things pent up inside you Dani and it is not healthily for you or Eric to keep them locked away. With all this new stuff that is being stacked on top of the old stuff, there are going to be drastic consequences if you don't let someone help you."

"I don't need help doc." I am not a crazy person that needs her whole life psycho-analyzed. He frowns at me, not a fitting look for him.

"I think you do. Tell me Dani, what happened early this morning?" A lot happened this morning. "What part?" I ask smugly because I see where this is headed.

"Well lets see, we could talk about how you hit the officer out of pure reaction, the part where you regressed at the touch of Max trying to restrain you, the part where Eric's touch seemed to calm you down, or the most troubling part in which you became troubling close to being in a catatonic state. Please let me know if I missed anything important."

I look down at my hands again. I probably seemed crazy last night, but that look in Eric's eye as they put him in the car. It was as if he had given up. It didn't just worry me, it scared me.

"Look, this is just as much for Eric as it is for you. Max and I had a long conversation this morning. I am just as concerned for Eric as I am for you. Eric is blaming this all on himself and that can be dangerous. Obviously dangerous for others, but also to himself. He has a trouble past just like you and the stress of all this is weighing heavy on him." I look up at him and the urge to cry returns as Christian words fall in line with my worries, but I have other worries as well.

"Do you think we can get past this? I mean, is there a chance he will still want to be with someone as broken as me?" I am not sure I really want to know the answer but I need to hear it from someone. "Dani, the love you and Eric share is extremely strong. You two are extremely lucky to have found each other." _I don't think luck is anywhere in my vocabulary._

"You guys share a bond that few others ever experience. Love comes on many levels. The strongest of them all is what most may refer to as soul mates. I honestly believe that is what you two have and if I am right, soul mates can survive nearly anything. It is a bond that is almost unbreakable. That is why I want to help you two. You belong together and I don't want the stubbornness of you both to ruin something so rare."

I flop back onto my pillow, exhaling loudly. "Fine, but I am still not talking until I am ready!" I hate how he always seems to talk me into getting what he wants. He claps his hands together and stands up. "Great. I will be staying the night in town and I will be here when you guys get back."

"How do you know he is being release?" I question, being he still doesn't know for sure what is going to happen. "Oh, I have a gut feeling about this and I think things will turn out okay. I will see you in the morning."

So freaking confident, sometimes it drives me crazy. "Tell Marlene to get in here and take this damn IV out." I order trying to regain a little bit of dignity that he pretty much just trampled down completely. I need to talk to Max.

Marlene walks in shaking her head with a smile on her lips. "That man can talk his way into anything, I swear." I let out a huff. "Tell me about it. I hate that he always gets his way."

"Yeah, between that and his charming looks, it almost seems like he should be a politician." I almost laugh because she is so right. "Sorry I knocked you out this morning, but you were so overwhelmed and exhausted. I got worried when you didn't respond to anyone, and I thought maybe your mind had just had too much."

I look down to my arm and watch her start taking my IV out. I know she is probably right, but I still didn't like the fact that again, things were out of my control. It seems that is all my life is made up of these days. The problem is it doesn't seem like it is going to get better anytime soon.

She finishes up and after a list of what to watch for she lets me go. I go to Max's office but he is not there. I don't know where he would be this time of day. He is never in his cabin during the day. He must have left camp. I hope he didn't go to see Eric without me.

I can smell dinner but I don't really feel hungry despite my lack of eating the last day or so. What I really want is to just sit and relax. I have an urge for tea so I decide to head over to the cafeteria before everyone gets there.

The weather is clear and sunny but it is so cold out that everyone is inside. Even though I have sweats on, I can still feel the sting of the frosty cold. A hot cup of tea while I am wrapped in my blanket hopefully will make me feel a little better.

As I walk into the mess haul, it is still empty but I hear Chris in the kitchen, probably doing last minute preparations. I make my way over to the hot water tank in the corner of the room and start filling up a cup for tea.

"This is so typical." I hear Chris say. I almost think she is talking to me until I hear Uri talking back to her. "It isn't like she could help it." What in the world are they talking about? I move closer to the door of the kitchen but make sure I stay out of sight.

"I swear, ever since she came here, everything is always about her."

"Chris, that is kind of messed up. I mean, she has been through hell this last year."

"But still, I am so sick of every time I turn around, it is always Dani, Dani, Dani." _Holy Crap, is she really saying this?_

"Chris, I am sure she wishes no of this has ever happened. Would you rather it happened to you?"

"Well no, not really. I mean, I feel bad and all what she had to go through, I just am tired of everything here always revolving around her." _Trust me, I would gladly give it up._

"So what you are really saying is you are upset you aren't the center of attention anymore... Hey ouch! You didn't need to hit me, you know it's true. Besides, I thought you two were becoming beasties these days. You two are always hanging out."

"Like I said, she is okay and all, I am just tired of everything always focused on her. There are more people that work here beside her."

I can't listen anymore. I abandon my cup and quietly leave the mess haul. _Great, now everyone is mad at me._ I head back to my cabin before I can run into anyone else. I guess I finally just saw the true side of Christina. Apparently she was just using me too, now that she doesn't have Tris to follow her her around all the time. This is why I don't hang out with women. They can be so two-faced and so full of drama. I thought Chris and I were becoming good friends but it seems that was all an illusion.

I wonder how many of the others feel the same way. She is kind of right that things typically have me attached to them but I am not asking for them. I just want to live happy and peaceful but apparently that isn't a life I will ever see. It is upsetting to know that is how she really feels.

I hurry to my cabin before I can run into anyone else. I really don't think I can handle dealing with anything or anybody for the rest of the evening. I curl up in my bed, hugging my pillow between my arms.

The unfortunate thing about Marlene giving me an IV is that I am now hydrated and the tears have returned. So many things keep running through my head. How can so much stuff happen in such a short period of time? I even slept through a bunch of it. And where am I now? In my cabin with no one in sight.

Now I really do feel truly alone!

* * *

 **So you had to know Eric was on the hunt right... We are coming to a close, only a few chapters left in this book. I am still trying to decided where exactly I am going to break it up, but I know it will be soon. Let me know what you think, comments and reviews are always welcome.**

 **Until next time!**


	27. Chapter 27

**I absolutely love you all so much. Thank you again so much for the outpouring over my two books. I love you all so much, I could never express it to you. Several of you have been there from the beginning and many more have been picked up on the way. You guys are great!**

 **Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

This story is rated M/MA for Lemons, language and situations. Not appropriate for younger readers!

Disclaimer: All divergent characters belong to Veronica Roth, all original characters are mine. V.R. characters look like those in the movie. Hope you all enjoy, reviews and thoughts are welcome.

* * *

 **Chapter 27**

 _(Saturday, December 19th)_

This week has been so exhausting. I can't wait for our evening class to finally be done for the day. Tris is finishing her lesson on the advancement of technology since the cadets have a paper due on Monday. It's kind of funny. I remember having to write that paper quite well. It was the day after our first bonfire which also was my eighteenth birthday. The same bonfire that Eric removed me from, taking me to his 'special spot' and kissed me for the first time.

Tonight is our cadets first bonfire. Unfortunately, I am far from excited about this one. This week has been difficult on so many different levels. There are a few things that I am pretty happy about. One would be that I finished the last of my finals yesterday so I am done with the quarter and now I get a two week break from school work. Not only that, but Winter quarter is over, which means I go down to four classes instead of six. I can't believe I actually made it through this last quarter. I am still in disbelief that I was able get through all of that work. Especially with everything else that was going on.

As odd as it sounds, my school work has actually been a welcome distraction this week. Ever since we picked up Eric from jail, he has been distant.

 **Flashback Monday**

"Dani sit still." Max scolds me. I am trying but it isn't working so well. We have been sitting here at the jail for over an hour. It didn't take long after Max made the call to Mr. Walker for them to release Eric on bail. As much as I hate to admit it, I am glad Sean is going to make it. I hate him with ever fiber of my being but none of that even comes close to how I would feel if Eric got locked up. Just knowing he has been in there for the last day is driving me crazy.

I spent all yesterday evening in my room laying down. Unfortunately sleep completely eluded me and I just laid there all night long. Afraid to see the darkness of the back of my eyelids and afraid of the dreams that would knowingly follow.

I stand up quickly and start pacing, trying to pull my thoughts away from unwanted memories. _What is taking so long?_ We got a call over over two hours ago that he was being released. I need to see that he is okay. It's irrational of me to feel this way, he can take care of himself clearly but I need to see his okay with my own eyes.

Max is suddenly on his feet drawing my eyes to him. Until this very moment, Max has been completely composed, but in this moment the relief radiating off him is plastered on his face as well. I follow his stare to see Eric behind a windowed door where he has stopped at a counter and is signing something.

I close my eyes and let out my own sigh of relief. When I open my eyes Eric is standing in front of the door looking at me. He still looks so sad, but there doesn't seem to be any other damage to him other than the few bruises and minor cuts he left the camp with. The door is unlocked and he finally steps through, but I am frozen in place. My state of relief is overwhelming me so much, it is taking everything I have to even remain standing. I stand there knowing he will come to me.

He only takes a few steps and then stops unable to go any further as Max suddenly grabs him by his arms. "You okay?"

"I am fine Max." He looks over to me once more but his gaze only last a moment before he looks down. We both seem to be take aback when Max suddenly engulfs Eric in a hug. "Don't you ever do that to me again!" He says in a loud scolding whisper. I never realize how much this would affect him, but then again, with the history of his son I can see how this probably weighed extremely heavy on him. On several occasion I have heard him call Eric 'son' and it has always been clear Max and Eric have shared a stronger bond then Max and the other staff.

It takes Max a second to remember himself and he quickly stands up straight, composing himself once more. Stepping to the side he points his hand to me giving Eric permission to continue over to see me. Eric oddly hesitates giving me an uneasy feeling and when he finally does move, he steps to my side giving me an awkward side hug and kisses me on my temple. _That's it?_

I look up at him confused but he isn't looking at me, he is looking toward Max who has the same confused look on his face. Eric grabs my hand and pulls me along as we walk past Max. It appears his actions are not up for discussion.

Once we get outside, he slows just a bit so we are walking side by side instead of me trailing behind him. "Are you really okay?" I whisper to him, not wanting Max to hear. Eric is more likely to tell me the truth if no one else can here his answer. "Dani, I'm fine. I can take care of myself." He sounds so cold, not something he normal does to me when it is just us. "I know, I just...you seem..."

"Will you just drop it?!" He snaps at me causing me to flinch. I look down feeling almost ashamed but for what I have no idea. He stops in beside the camp's SUV we came in. He takes a deep breath and gives me another quick kiss on my temple before releasing my hand. He opens the rear door for me to get in, which I do quickly keeping my eyes on my hands.

He stands there for a moment. When I don't move he reaches in and pulls the seat buckle around me, clicking it in place. Pulling back a little he runs his hand gently down the side of my face. "Sorry." I can hear the regret in his voice and I know his rare apology is genuine. His actions are beyond confusing, it is like he has two people pulling him in two different directions. I nod my head in acceptances looking to his chest, but I still can't look him in the eyes. His fingers linger on my neck for a moment before he pulls back and closes my door before getting into the front passenger seat. "Let's get out of here shall we?" Max says as he turns on the car and quickly puts into gear.

The ride back is silent. None of us say a word and with no music, the silence is extremely uncomfortable. This is not how I saw our reunion. I know things have been a little tense between us since Saturday, but I was hoping things would at least have gotten a little better after he spent a day in jail. I guess I had hoped he felt the same unsettling feeling being away from me just like I have. I didn't think things would go right back to normal but I hoped we could at least try and work for that. He is keeping me at arms length and that worry's me.

We pull back into camp and park the car. "Christian is waiting for you two in Dani's cabin."

As we exit the car Max turns to Eric. "What for?" Eric ask suspiciously. "I want you to talk to him."

"I said I'm fine Max. I don't need..."

"It isn't a request!" He interrupts him and walks away quickly toward his office.

"Great." Eric mumbles. "Come on, let's get this over with." He tells me and begins to walk toward the cabins. I quickly fall in behind him. We are back at camp which means we are back into staff mode, no sensual touching.

 **End Flashback**

As soon as we reached my cabin, Christian had me sit outside while he talked to Eric. I waited on the porch for almost an hour while they talked. When he finally beckoned me inside, all he told us was to be patient with each other and not to place blame upon each other. He said we needed to lean on each other to get through it. That was it, that was his all powerful advise. I couldn't believe that was all he had to say and it made me quite curious to know what him and Eric had talked about.

Since then Eric hasn't really talk to me. He is often quite and serious looking. We have been working out every night after P.T. but he rarely touches me other than quick kisses to my temple. I see the hesitate every time he goes to touch me, I see the conflict in his eyes when he looks at me and on the rare occasion when he thinks no one is looking I see the sadness. It is create so many conflicts of my own.

I am beginning to long for his touch like I use to in the beginning. As much as anyone's touch scares me right now, I feel the need for him to touch me in the littlest ways. I just can't understand why he continues to be so distant, even after our talk with Christian.

"Alright everyone. We're Done for today. Don't forget your paper is due Monday and I expect it to meet all the standards listed on handout I gave you." Eric and Paulo's groups get up and leave the classroom. "Dani, you can go if you want. I can finish up here." She gives me a knowing smile. She really has a true heart.

"Thanks Tris. I'll see you at dinner."

"Okay." I give her a gentle smile and head toward the door.

Thank goodness today's weather is sunny, but it's really cold. It snowed a few days this week and it still blankets the ground. Despite the cold, the snow covering everything with the bright sunny reflecting off it is quite beautiful.

"Everything okay?" I turn to see Harrison standing behind me. I kind of spaced offed there for a minute looking at the snow flocked trees. "Um, Yeah. I guess I just got lost in the beauty of the winter." I tell him a little embarrassed to be caught daydreaming.

"It's fine. It is really beautiful." He looks up to the trees. "I am glad I caught up with you." He says looking hesitant. I raise an eyebrow at him. "And why is that exactly?" He rubs his hand across the back of his neck and looks down momentarily.

"Are you really okay?"

"Yes, I'm okay!" I snap as I glare at him.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to intrude. It's just, I was out late last night, smoking on the porch. I heard a scream coming from your cabin. I thought you might seek out Eric or even Jeff but you didn't. You just stepped out onto your porch and sat there in the bitter cold."

I can't believe he saw me and didn't say anything. "You seemed so sad and lonely, yet you didn't seek out anyone. I figured you wanted to be alone so I quietly went back inside." _Great._ I must have looked insane sitting out there in my pajama's in the freezing cold. I needed some air to shake off the nightmare I had. The thought occurred to me to seek out Eric but I dismissed it when I thought about his distant and hesitant behavior.

Going to Jeff just didn't feel right. His normal comforting touch, doesn't seem to be so comforting lately. It almost feels wrong, ever since I watch Eric being taken way by the police. I did feel lonely but I am glad he didn't stay anything to me,because I probably would have broke down and that is the last thing I would have wanted.

"Are you and Eric having problems?" I am snapped out of my thoughts. "I really don't think that is any of your business." I say in disbelief. He really is just getting too personal now.

"I am just wondering why he seems so distant around you lately. This is a time he should be comforting you and being strong for you. Yet any time he is around you, he seems lost in his own world." _He's right, he is._ I really need Eric right now but he hasn't been there for me. I have waited all week for him to come around, to realize things would be okay and to become the old Eric again but he just isn't there.

I have begun to think he may never be again. Christian had me so convinced that things would be okay between Eric and I but just in the last day or so, my doubts have returned. "You know, I still don't see how this is any of your business." I say trying to end this conversation.

"I made you an offer once Dani and it still stands. If you need someone to just be there, to just be an ear to hear you, I am here." Honestly it is tempting since I really don't feel like I can talk to anyone else right now. I don't know why I have felt so odd around Jeff. Maybe it has to do something to the fact that he was one of the people who found me, seen me in my most weakest and tattered state. I guess I sort of feel embarrassed.

I am on the edge of a line, I don't know what to do. "We don't have to talk, if you don't want to." He nods his head toward his cabin. "Come on." He says and start walking toward it. I cautiously follow. "Why are we going to your cabin?" I am not sure why I am actually following him.

"I have something for you."

"What would you have for me?"

"Just come on." Slightly curious, I follow him.

We reach the front of the cabin and he unlocks it and opens the door, standing aside for me to enter first. "It's okay, I will wait out here." I am not sure going into his cabin is really a good idea. Not that I think he would hurt me or anything. "Come on, I don't bite. You don't have to stay if you don't want to but it is cold out and I have manners so please step inside for a moment." I huff and go inside, it is kind of hard to deny a man than that has manners. Ironically enough, it reminds me of how I use to think it was funny that Eric is such a gentlemen despite his tuff man act.

I move to the corner as Harrison follows me in and begins going through stuff on his desk. It has become a little cluttered since the last time I had seen it. He is obviously far from the neat and organized Eric. He finally finds what he is looking for and comes back over to me.

He hands me a book. Not exactly what I was expecting, then again I really didn't know what to expect. I look up at him confused. "I bought this and was going to send it to my cousin for her birthday. Jeff mentioned once that you loved to read. Maybe you could read it for me and tell me what you think of it first. It's really not the type of thing I would read."

I look at the book. "I guess it is actually three books and the lady at the store says it was good." He shrugs at me. It's a sci-fi book which isn't usually the type of book I normally read, but right now I don't think a Stephen King book is what I should be reading. I have enough nightmares about real life.

"I really appreciate it. Thank you." Maybe this is what I need. "Please come by after dinner. We could just sit, relax and read for a while. I usually come in here and read a little after dinner. It's pretty calming." I debate it for a moment. At least here, I am less likely to be interrupted by everyone's constant worrying and checking up on me. It doesn't take long for me to make up my mind. "Okay. I will be back in a little while." He nods his head and I hand him the book back. "Can I leave this here for now?" He gives me a crooked smile. "Sure." He walks over to the couch and sets it down. "It is waiting here for you, when ever you are ready."

I give him a small nod and leave to go freshen up before dinner. I just pray that Harrison's intentions are pure. He seems to genuinely want to help me, but I have been fooled before and the last thing I need right now is someone causing me any more problems.

I reach my cabin and after using the restroom and running the brush through my hair, I decide to check my grades. Bringing up my school site, I log-in and click on the tab for my classes. I smile spreads across my face as I begin to scroll through them. I am not sure how I did it but I managed to come out of this quarter with a average of three point five. It isn't quite an 'A' but it is enough to make me happy, especially after everything I went through.

The blinking envelope in the top corner of the screen steals my attention. I have an unread school email. I imagine it is saying I have two weeks to pay for my classes that were not covered by the Pell Grants before I can sign up for next quarter. Since I took such a large class load, the grants weren't even close to pay for them all. I have been able to save up some money since I don't really have anything to buy and we have been here for several weeks, but it still isn't enough.

Sometime in the next week I am going to have to sit down with Max and see if he would be willing to give me an advance or something so I can make up the several thousand I am short. He told me we would be able to 'work something out' so hopefully that is something he had in mind. I don't really want him to just pay for it, I just need a little help until I can work it off.

I decide to open it and see exactly how much I am going to need. My stomach drops when I open the email and read the first few sentences.

'Thank you for payment. The balance owing on your account is now $0.'

 _What the hell?_

I scroll down, reading the rest and my confusion turns into absolute frustration as I realize what is going on. I slam my laptop shut and head for the mess haul. Several people are already there including my little group minus Eric but that doesn't surprise me in the least. He usually makes sure all the cadets are here before he comes to meals.

I get in line and dish up my food before going to sit down in my normal spot. Jeff looks up as I sit and greets me as does the few others sitting there already. I am still getting those lingering looks from people but it hasn't been so bad the last few days. I think people are finally putting last week behind us.

"You okay?" God I wish people would stop asking me that. "I'm fine Jeff, just a little irritated."

"Anything you would care to talk about?" I glare at him. "Okay, okay, enough said. Just tell me one thing." I raise my eyebrow at him and wait for him to ask his question. "How did yesterday go? I didn't get a chance to ask you yet."

I know he is talking about yesterday when I met with my lawyer.

 **Flashback Friday**

"Good Afternoon Dani." Mr. Leeks greets me as Max, Eric and I walk into his office. "Max, Eric, good to see you as well." Mr. Walker says as he comes to stand next to Mr. Leeks and shakes our hands. "Shall we all sit." Mr. Leeks says as he ushers us to the conference table in his office. We sit down and my stomach is in knots. We have been waiting to hear what is going on ever since there was a continuance of the case due to the kidnapping. Both of the lawyers seem to be in a good mood which eases my discomfort just a little.

"I would like to thank you guys for being so patient. This week has been quite long and drawn out with the new developments. I am sorry to call you down so late in the afternoon but we wanted to wait until we knew the full scope of everything." Mr. Leeks says look at us all one by one.

"I am happy to say I have some good news for all of you." I let out a long sigh and I feel the twisting in my stomach loosen up. Mr. Leeks continues after giving me a smile. "After the events of last weekend, we retracted our agreement to let Lynn plead down. After a lot of back and forth from her lawyer she finally agreed to plead guilty to the original charge of first degree assault with the deadly weapon as well as kidnapping. The judge has yet to sentence her but it will be a minimum of fifteen to twenty years and she will not be released prior to sentencing due to her recent actions. Pleading guilty was smart on her part since she could have been facing an attempted murder charge." I close my eyes as a single tear streams down my cheek.

I feel it being wiped away as well as a kiss to my temple. My joy is short lived and eyes fly open as I remember that is not the end of it. "What about Sean and what about Eric?"

Mr. Walker sits up straighter as he begins talking. "Thankfully, part of Lynn's plea deal was that she give a statement regarding your kidnapping. That included Sean's part in it. Of course he denied it at first and went ranting on about wanting to press charges against Eric."

"What?!" I spit out but he quickly holds up his hands halting me before I can continue. "I said at first, but soon after I first went in to talk to him, he received a visit from the camp's current psychologist who was able to sweet talk the nurse into letting him talk to Sean. An hour later I received a call from Sean requesting another meeting with me. He has also agreed to plead guilty to second degree kidnapping, rape and will not be pressing charges against Eric."

I look to Eric trying to hold in the dam that is waiting to burst from my eyes. He is staring at Mr. Walker in complete shock. It's obvious he had no idea. I look back to Mr. Walker. "So you mean this is all over? No trial, no more meetings, it's done?" I choke out almost unable to hold it all back.

"That is exactly what I am saying." He says with a gleaming smile and it is my undoing. I bury my face my hands as the dam burst. I feel Eric's hand on the side of my head pulling me to him until he is able to rest his forehead against the other side of my head. I feel a huge weight roll off my shoulders as I try to get myself under control. I some how managed to keep my sobs completely quiet and once the tears stop I wipe the tears away from my face with the tissue Mr. Leeks offers me. _It's over, it's really over._

 **End Flashback**

They really don't need a play-by-play of what happened so I give them a short version explaining that they are both going to jail and we won't be seeing them for a long time. The news seems to lift everyone's spirits as I hear of course compliments.

"Perfect reason to celebrate. We are all going to Uriah's and Will's to drink a little before the bonfire." Jeff informs me quietly. Wow, somethings are obviously not going to change, not that it bothers me. "Your in right?" He ask with that cute crooked smile.

"I don't know Jeff, last time it didn't have a good outcome." Sort of, I can't say that entire night was bad but the drinking my not have been the greatest idea. "Dani, don't be a downer. We won't get drunk, I promise."

"I think I will pass this time around. I think I should keep a clear head right now." I give him a small smile because his sulking face is just adorable. "Fine." He says all whinny.

I feel Eric sit down beside me. "Hey." He says softly to me, again he is treading like he is afraid I am going to break. "Hi." I say suddenly remembering my earlier irritation. "What's wrong?" He ask catching on to my quick mood change. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe I just got my tuition statement and maybe I saw something extremely unexpected on it?" I let the sarcasm ooze off my words.

He looks down and begins bitting the inside of his cheek. I notice Harrison giving him a curious look but I am in no mood to delay this conversation for later. When he doesn't answer I continue. "The weird thing is, it says I have a zero balance. You wouldn't happen to know who would go out of their way to pay a seven thousand dollar tuition bill after I specifically stated I want to pay for it on my own would you?"

"I distinctly remember not agreeing to that. I just chose to drop it and not argue with you." He says quietly. "It isn't a big deal, it was the least I could do. Please don't make this into a big deal." Here we go again. I swear this is going to be a never ending argument between us. Although this is the longest conversation we have had all week. "Look Eric, you cannot just come in and be the valiant prince charming anytime I have a problem." I say lowering my voice and becoming more serious. "I can try." _Urggg._

"Eric..."

"Please Dani, I don't want to argue." He says cutting me off and closing his eyes. "Just consider it a gift." His pleading is enough to reel in my emotions. I know this week has been difficult for him as well but he needs to stop trying to fix everything. "Look. I accept it for now, but I am paying you back, no arguments about it." He finally looks at me, his lips pressed into a tight line. "I'm serious." I reiterate.

"Fine." He finally says looking back down at his food.

I finish my food quickly. I don't want to argue and Harrison's offer is sounding better than ever right now. "I will see you guys out at the bonfire." I say to everyone wanting to just get away from everyone right now.

"Your not coming to Uriah's?" Eric ask confused.

"No, I just want to go relax. I'm fine, I just want some quiet time."

"Alright." He sounds a little sad but I am doing this for me because it is the truth, I just need some quiet time.

I get up and empty my tray before heading for Jeff and Harrison's cabin. I hope they don't mind me going in there when they are not there, but it is easier then waiting and have everyone's questioning stares. I let my self in and just like Harrison said earlier, the book is laying there on the couch waiting for me. I remove my shoes and curl up in the corner of the couch, pulling the throw blanket that was on the back around my shoulders before picking up the book.

I am in the middle of the second chapter when Harrison walks in and looks a little shocked to discover me here.

"Sorry to intrude." He shakes the shock off his face. "No it's fine, I just didn't realize you were here. Please don't let me bother you." He walks over to his desk and sits down grabbing a book of his own so I go back reading my own book.

After a few minutes of silence I look up. Harrison has his leg pulled up resting on the edge of the chair and is already engrossed in what ever he is reading. A smile tugs at my lip and I look back down to continue my story.

* * *

"Hey, sorry to interrupt." I look up startled a bit by the noise. "Huh?" I ask.

"Everyone is going to be heading over to the bonfire. Are you still interested in going?" I look down at my watch. I hadn't realize that an hour and a half has already flown by. "Oh, shoot. I didn't realize we had been reading so long." I stand up and stretch. I feel so much better.

"I really should be going. I wanted to go to the bonfire."

"Okay, I was just going to say you could stay if you want. I have to head out. Max is taking Tori and I out for drinks tonight, but that doesn't mean you have to go. You can stay as long as you like." That is really nice of him.

"Thank you for the offer but I really wanted to go, but I wanted to thank you. This is exactly what I needed. It is so nice to be able to sit and read and get lost in a whole other world. Even if it's only temporary. I feel a lot better."

"No problem. You are welcome to come by anytime. Of course you are welcome to take the book back to your cabin too, but this one is pretty empty most of the time. Jeff seems to be busy hanging out everywhere else so feel free to come and sit if you need some quiet time. Even if we aren't here." He gives me a sly smile as he says the last bit.

"Thank you and if it is alright, I will leave this book here for now. It is really interesting and I would love to keep reading it, I just don't want to have to stop by my cabin to drop it off."

"Sure."

"Thanks again. I will see you around." I finish tying my boots and head out to meet up with the others. I actually feel pretty happy. I can only hope the rest of the night will go well.

I get to Uriah's and don't bother to knock as I hear everyone laughing and joking around. "Well, look who finally decided to join us." Jeff says wrapping his arm around my shoulder. I smile at him and look at him a little funny as I get a whiff of the strong alcohol emanating from him. "Hands off Jeff." Eric says surprising me when he wraps his arms around me from behind successfully pushing Jeff away.

"Hey princess." He whispers in my ear and I melt. He reeks of alcohol too but if that is what it takes to loosen up this odd mood he has been in then so be it. "Hey to you too." I say twisting in his arms slightly so I can see him. He kisses me on my nose. "Glad your here." He says almost shyly. "Me too." I tell him with a smile mirroring his own.

Jeff hands me a soda. I give him and knowing look. "It isn't strong I promise." He says laughing at me. The light atmosphere is contagious. "Fine, but only one." I tell him. I really don't want a hang over tomorrow, but loosening up a little won't be so bad.

"Let's go hang out by the fire." Zeke says and we all start for the door.

Eric and I fall behind everyone else as we begin to walk toward the fire pit. I hold onto his arm until we are almost there and then we part just enough so that we are not touching, but neither of us lose our ridiculous smiles.

The night fly's by as we all sit around talking. Eric sits next to me keeping himself touching me at all times whether it be our legs, arms or hips, without obviously holding each other. It reminds me a lot of how we were back when I was a cadet.

When it is finally time to head back, Eric walks me back to my cabin while Four and Will clean up. I'm feeling warm and fuzzy inside. I had given in and took one more special soda from Jeff but it was only enough to feel the alcohol a little. Tonight has been so amazingly carefree, I almost don't want it to end.

We reach my cabin and Eric takes my hand as he turns to face me. "You know I love you right." He says to me slightly slurring his words. It's obvious he has had more to drink then me. "Of course I know that, and I love you too." He has been so relaxed and happy tonight, something I haven't seen in a while.

He leans down connecting his lips to my own. My hand find their way to his hair and his kiss turns more passionate as he presses me up against my door. Whatever his reservations were this week, they have definitely dissolve. We finally break for air and he leans his forehead against mine. I really want to invite him in, but I am not sure I am ready yet for what would definitely follow.

He lifts his head and I look up to him. That goofy happy smile I love is stretched across his lips. He leans down and places one more soft kiss on my lips. "Good night my princess. Sweet dreams." He says still smiling and then turns to leave without another word.

I stand smiling as I watch him walk toward his dorm whistling some familiar tune.

* * *

 **Well I really hoped you guys liked it. It was a joy to write. Thoughts and reviews always welcome. Well like all good things, this book has come to an end. But don't fret because the next one is in the works. I promise there will be more to come. Please let me know if you have any unanswered questions that I could write into the next part. Although, many are already planned out, I want to make sure not to leave anything hanging.** **Until next time!**


	28. Chapter 28

**Hello Everyone, just a little something to close out this book and make way for the new one. Enjoy!**

This story is rated M/MA for Lemons, language and situations. Not appropriate for younger readers!

Disclaimer: All divergent characters belong to Veronica Roth, all original characters are mine. V.R. characters look like those in the movie. Hope you all enjoy, reviews and thoughts are welcome.

* * *

 **Chapter 28: Epilogue**

 _(Sunday, December 20th)_

 _I groggily turn my head slightly as I feel the bed dip down behind me. His familiar comforting smell engulfs my nostrils as I feel fingers glide over my arm lightly. Electricity runs through my body as his fingers travel across my neck, moving my hair to the side so it can be replaced by his skillful lips. I let out a quiet hum of pleasure and I feel his smile, a response he knowingly enjoys. His hands roam across my stomach and up to my tender breasts, caressing them softly. I turn my head until his lips to find mine, his passionate lips kissing me until I am dizzy._

 _This is what I have missed. His smell, his touch, his comfort, invading all of my senses. This is what I have craved, to feel safe in his arms, to have him take away all my problems and all of my fears until it is only us._

 _I let myself get lost in him. Not wanting for this moment to end. Something in the back of my mind says I should stop, but I will not let the fear in me take over. I am strong, I will myself to be strong, not only for myself but for him as well. I have put him through so much and I am so grateful he has stuck with me through it all._

 _His lips move back down my neck to my shoulder as his willful hands glide across me, moving down toward my thighs. I am not sure whether or not I am ready for this but I want this, I want him. I want things to go back to the way they were before, when we were together and happy._

 _All the sudden I feel him bite me. "Ouch Eric, what the hell?" That wasn't a playful bite, that actually hurt. His hands become more forceful, more frantic. Something isn't right, this isn't like him. I feel another painful bite on my shoulder. "Eric?" I say louder hoping he will come to his senses._

 _He doesn't answer, he just continues grabbing at my body in a feverish manner. "Eric, please?" This isn't right, why isn't he answering me?_

 _"Eric?"_

 _I look toward Marlene's bed but there is no one there. Her bed is not there either. A heavy feeling sinks into my stomach as I look around. This isn't our cabin, I am not at camp. I am in a cold small room. A room that I know, a room from my past that I hoped never to see again._

 _A cold breeze brings goose bumps to my arms. I am naked. How am I naked? When did he undress me and how did I not know?_

 _A hand grabs at my hip with bruising force but it feels different. It isn't the same. I try to turn around to look at who is behind me but he doesn't allow me to, pushing my face back toward the side. Tears begin to fall down my cheek as recognition comes to the forefront of my mind._

 _"Stop, please stop!"_

 _"Hhhmmmm." That voice, I know that voice. It is not my prince charming, it is my worst nightmare. "I have missed you my little whore!"_

"NOOO!" I scream as I bot upward.

"Hey, hey Dani it's okay!" Marlene says as she crouches next to my bed. "It's okay, it's just us here."

I try to focus on her words and try to breath through the heaviness in my chest. _Where the hell did that nightmare come from?_ "Do you want me to go get Eric?" I shake my head no. I don't want to have to explain it to him. _How could I?_ He is usually my protector in my dreams. But not this time, this time was different. It began with his comfort and it was torn away.

"Okay, what about Jeff?"

I shake my head again. "I'm fine. I just need something to drink." She nod her head and stands, heading for he bathroom. She returns quickly with a full glass of water and I drink it down quickly.

"Thank you, I'm fine. Let's just got back to bed."

She gives me a sad smile. "Alright, but if you need anything, just let me know." She goes and climbs back into bed. I lay down focusing on shaking off the horrible feeling that still lingers in me.

Something tells me, my stint of bad luck isn't over just yet.

* * *

 **So there you have it. The end of book two. Please let me know how it was. Did you like it more or less than the first one? I hope it was to your liking and I really hope the next one is as well.**

 **Thank you again to all of you! Until next time!**

 **Coming Soon - _Dauntless Bootcamp: The Tertiary_**


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